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Published on: September 30, 2020
[Patient education program in chronic heart failure: assessment at one year in 81 patients]
Insights
This study evaluated a private practice heart failure disease management program. Most patients found the program effective for managing heart failure, with high adherence to dietary guidelines.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Public Health
- Health Management
Context:
- Heart failure disease management programs aim to improve patient outcomes.
- Private practice programs offer a specific model for heart failure care.
- Evaluating long-term benefits requires assessing patient adherence and self-management.
Purpose:
- To assess the one-year benefit of a private practice disease management program for heart failure patients.
- To evaluate patient self-monitoring of vital signs and symptoms.
- To determine patient adherence to lifestyle and therapy recommendations.
Summary:
- Eighty-one heart failure patients were evaluated one year after program participation.
- Patients demonstrated better adherence to dietary guidelines (91.9%) than physical activity (44.6%) or kinesiotherapy (12.2%).
- Self-monitoring of weight and edema was more efficient (78.4%) than vital signs (48.7%).
Impact:
- 72.6% of surveyed patients reported the program effectively aided heart failure management.
- The program showed potential in improving self-management behaviors and patient-reported effectiveness.
- Findings suggest focusing on adherence barriers for physical activity and kinesiotherapy in future programs.
Abstract:
Disease management programs are implemented to manage heart failure. By means of a phone survey, using a standardized questionnaire, we aimed to evaluate the benefit at one year of a private practice disease management program in patients with heart failure. Among the 87 patients who had taken part in the program, six had died, so 81 (aged 70.8 +/- 10 years) were evaluated. Among those, 51 had been hospitalized at least once because of heart failure prior to entering the program, and 7 patients were hospitalized afterwards. The surveyed patients appeared to check more efficiently their weight and lower limbs edema (78.4%) than their heart rate, blood pressure (48.7%) and respiratory rate (5.4%). Regarding compliance with guidelines provided during the program sessions, it appeared that the patients followed better dietary guidelines (91.9%) than guidelines involving physical activity (44.6%) and kinesiotherapy (12.2%). In the end 72.6% among the surveyed felt that the disease management program was effective in helping them manage their heart failure.
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