The study setting was four coronary care units affiliated to
two university hospitals located in Southern Khorasan, Iran.
The study population consisted of all patients with myocar-
dial infarction (MI) who had been recently discharged from
the study setting. The inclusion criteria were having an age
of less than 70 years, having a history of previous hospitali-
sation, having a definite diagnosis of MI—as established by
a cardiologist and documented in patients’ medical records
—, and having no history of speech and hearing impair-
ments and physical and mental disabilities. We referred to
the medical records units of the study setting and listed the
names of all patients with MI who had been discharged
during the two years preceding the study. The list included
80 patients meeting the study inclusion criteria. Then, we
recruited a random sample of 66 names from the list.
Thereafter, we phoned the recruited patients, provided
them with information about the aim and process of the
study, and invited them to the study. All the invited
patients agreed to participate in the study.