Predictors of Better Self-Care in Patients with Heart Failure after Six Months of Follow-Up Home Visits

الملخص EN

This study aimed to examine the predictors of better self-care behavior in patients with heart failure (HF) in a home visiting program.

This is a longitudinal study nested in a randomized controlled trial (ISRCTN01213862) in which the home-based educational intervention consisted of a six-month followup that included four home visits by a nurse, interspersed with four telephone calls.

The self-care score was measured at baseline and at six months using the Brazilian version of the European Heart Failure Self-Care Behaviour Scale.

The associations included eight variables: age, sex, schooling, having received the intervention, social support, income, comorbidities, and symptom severity.

A simple linear regression model was developed using significant variables (P≤0.20), followed by a multivariate model to determine the predictors of better self-care.

One hundred eighty-eight patients completed the study.

A better self-care behavior was associated with patients who received intervention (P<0.001), had more years of schooling (P=0.016), and had more comorbidities (P=0.008).

Having received the intervention (P<0.001) and having a greater number of comorbidities (P=0.038) were predictors of better self-care.

In the multivariate regression model, being in the intervention group and having more comorbidities were a predictor of better self-care.