This was a secondary analysis of data from 629 adults with heart failure enrolled in three separate studies conducted in the northeastern and northwestern United States. In each study, self-care was measured using the Self-Care of HF Index (SCHFI) v.6.2, a 22-item instrument with three scales that measure the two components of HF self-care: maintenance and management, and confidence - a major influence on self-care (Riegel et al., 2004 (link); Riegel et al., 2009 (link)).
The self-care maintenance scale has 10 items that measure symptom monitoring and adherence to behaviors that are advocated in clinical guidelines (Yancy et al., 2013 (link)) to maintain patients in a stable state (e.g., monitoring weight, eating a low salt diet, exercising). The 6 items of the self-care management scale measure patients’ abilities to recognize symptoms when they occur, treatment implementation in response to symptoms (e.g., reduce fluid intake, take an extra water pill), and treatment evaluation. A self-care management scale score is calculated only in patients who have been recently symptomatic. The self-care confidence scale uses 6 items to evaluate patients’ perceived abilities to engage in each phase of the self-care process (e.g., preventing symptom onset, recognizing symptom changes).
Each scale uses a 4-point self-report response format (never or rarely, sometimes, frequently, always or daily). The Institutional Review Boards of each site approved the studies before data collection began, and all participants gave informed consent.
The self-care maintenance scale has 10 items that measure symptom monitoring and adherence to behaviors that are advocated in clinical guidelines (Yancy et al., 2013 (link)) to maintain patients in a stable state (e.g., monitoring weight, eating a low salt diet, exercising). The 6 items of the self-care management scale measure patients’ abilities to recognize symptoms when they occur, treatment implementation in response to symptoms (e.g., reduce fluid intake, take an extra water pill), and treatment evaluation. A self-care management scale score is calculated only in patients who have been recently symptomatic. The self-care confidence scale uses 6 items to evaluate patients’ perceived abilities to engage in each phase of the self-care process (e.g., preventing symptom onset, recognizing symptom changes).
Each scale uses a 4-point self-report response format (never or rarely, sometimes, frequently, always or daily). The Institutional Review Boards of each site approved the studies before data collection began, and all participants gave informed consent.
