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Published on: November 8, 2013
Psychological factors and treatment adherence behavior in patients with chronic heart failure
Robert D Schweitzer1, Kathryn Head, Jonathan W Dwyer
1School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4034, Australia. r.schweitzer@qut.edu.au
Background:
Chronic heart failure adversely affects 300,000 Australians. Symptom stabilization and prognosis are partially determined by patients following medical and lifestyle recommendations.
Methods:
To test the hypothesis that depression, anxiety, and self-efficacy are independent predictors of such adherence, 115 predominantly male (70.6%) volunteers with a mean age of 63 years were recruited from a major teaching hospital in Australia.
Results:
Depression (Beck Depression Inventory score >10, 33.3%) failed to predict adherence. Trait anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory score >40, 31%) explained minimal variability regarding smoking and alcohol adherence. Self-efficacy strongly predicted adherence behavior.
Conclusions:
Findings will assist cardiac nurses to prepare strategies to optimize adherence and quality of life while minimizing public health costs.
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