Patients with chronic heart failure who do more self-care have less mortality

The study, entitled The relationship between self-care, long-term mortality and heart failure hospitalization: insights from a real-world cohort study, was published in the February issue of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing.

Its authors are Esther Calero Molina, Encarna Hidalgo, Laia Rosenfeld, José M. Verdú Rotellar, José Verdú Soriano, Alberto Garay, Lidia Alcoberro, Santiago Jiménez Marrero, Paloma Garcimartín, Sergi Yun, Carmen Guerrero, Pedro Moliner, Cristina Delso , Laia Alcober, Cristina Enjuanes, and Josep Comín Colet. Until now, it has not been established whether better self-care in heart failure translates into improvements in mortality or long-term hospitalization.

The study included 1,123 consecutive patients with chronic heart failure. To measure overall self-care, he used the 9-item version of the European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale (EHFSCBS-9), as well as three specific dimensions of self-care that include adherence based on autonomy, consultation behavior, and provider adherence.