[Heart failure in primary care: Attitudes, knowledge and self-care]

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Primary Care Medicine
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Heart failure (HF) is a chronic condition requiring significant patient self-management.
• Primary care settings play a crucial role in managing HF patients.
• Understanding patient self-care is vital for improving health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess attitudes, knowledge, and self-care practices in primary care patients with heart failure (HF).
• To identify factors associated with improved self-care behaviors in this population.

Main Methods:

• A multicentre, cross-sectional study involving 295 HF patients in Primary Health Care Centres.
• Utilized validated scales to measure self-care, self-efficacy, knowledge, autonomy, and mental health.
• Employed a multivariate mixed model to analyze associations with self-care.

Main Results:

• Mean self-care score was moderate, with 25% of patients scoring below 21.
• Higher patient knowledge was significantly associated with better self-care practices (coefficient: -1.37).
• Coronary heart disease diagnosis was also linked to better self-care (coefficient: -2.41).

Conclusions:

• Heart failure patient self-care in primary care is moderate.
• Strategies to enhance self-care should focus on improving patient knowledge.
• Interventions must be tailored to the specific characteristics of HF patients in primary care.