Avatar-Based Serious Game for Cardiac Rehabilitation After Heart Attack

This study looks at whether a tablet-based education game helps people recover better after a heart attack. When people leave the hospital after a heart attack, they are usually given advice about their medicines, follow-up visits, cardiac rehabilitation, and warning signs to watch for. Many people find it hard to remember all of this information later at home. In this study, adults who were treated in hospital for a heart attack were divided by chance into two groups. One group received the usual face-to-face education before going home. The other group used an interactive avatar-based education game on a tablet, in which a guide character walks the patient through the same topics. The game could also be used at home for one month after discharge. The researchers measured how much patients knew about their heart disease, their quality of life, whether they attended cardiac rehabilitation, and whether they were readmitted to hospital. These were checked before discharge and again at 1, 3, and 6 months. The goal is to learn whether the avatar-based game helps patients understand and manage their condition better than usual education.

Inclusion Criteria: * Confirmed ST-elevation or non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction during the current admission or within the preceding three months, including patients readmitted for revascularization (percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting) * Planned discharge to home * Able to operate a tablet computer or a smart phone * Provided written informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Insufficient Turkish-language proficiency to engage with the application or study procedures * Severe comorbidity precluding engagement in lifestyle behaviour change or exercise * Significant cognitive or visual impairment * Concurrent enrolment in another interventional study