ESC Journals
Self‐care in heart failure (HF) is generally sub-optimal and impacts morbidity and mortality. To describe self‐care prevalence and explore its relationships with symptom experience, patient needs, and health-care utilization in a Swiss hospital providing regional secondary care.
Cross-sectional study, convenience sample of individuals with HF from four campuses of one regional Swiss hospital. Self-care was assessed via the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (SCHFI) and the European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviour Scale (EHFScBS), symptom experience via the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory–HF (MDASI-HF) and needs via the Heart Failure Needs Assessment Questionnaire (HFNAQ). Healthcare utilization reflected the preceding year’s hospitalization incidence. A cut-off level of
The findings indicated low self-care levels and suggest a need for increased support to maintain physiological stability, manage symptoms and prevent hospitalizations. This study is the first of its kind in Switzerland and among few studies worldwide to report on self-care, symptom experience, needs, and health-care utilization. Interventional studies are warranted considering baseline self-care capabilities, symptoms, and needs of individuals with HF.