The Development and Testing of the Hippocratic Heart Failure Self-Care Scale

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Nursing
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Self-care is crucial for managing congestive heart failure (CHF).
• Existing tools for assessing CHF self-care are limited.
• A validated Greek version of a self-care scale is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Greek version of the Hippocratic heart failure self-care scale (HHFSCS).
• To provide a reliable instrument for assessing self-care behaviors in Greek-speaking CHF patients.

Main Methods:

• A 22-item scale was developed and reviewed by experts.
• Adult CHF patients (n=250) in Athens completed the scale (June 2020-March 2021).
• Psychometric properties were assessed using reliability coefficients and exploratory factor analysis (EFA).

Main Results:

• The HHFSCS demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.807).
• Exploratory factor analysis identified two domains explaining 88.44% of variance.
• Strong test-retest reliability was confirmed (r = 0.973, p < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• The Greek HHFSCS is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring self-care in CHF patients.
• This scale can be utilized by healthcare professionals to enhance CHF patient management.
• Improved assessment of self-care behaviors can lead to better health outcomes for CHF patients.