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Published on: September 30, 2020
The association between cognitive function and self-care in patients with chronic heart failure
Carina M Hjelm1, Anders Broström2, Barbara Riegel3
1Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Division of Nursing Science, Linköping University, Sweden; Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, County Council of Östergötland, Sweden.
Background:
Self-care requires that patients learn to care for themselves. Cognitive impairment and depression can decrease the ability and interest in performing self-care. The objectives were to explore the association between cognitive function and self-care in heart failure patients, and to examine if this association was moderated by symptoms of depression.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study included 105 heart failure patients in NYHA II-IV, median age 72 years. Self-care was measured with the European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale, cognitive function with a neuropsychological battery, and depressive symptoms were measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire. The associations between the study variables were examined with multiple regression analyses.
Results:
Psychomotor speed was the only cognitive dimension significantly associated with self-care. The association between psychomotor speed and self-care was not moderated by symptoms of depression.
Conclusions:
Deficits in psychomotor speed have implications for how patients should be educated and supported to perform self-care.
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