Heart Failure Self-care in Developed and Developing Countries

Riegel, Barbara; Driscoll, Andrea; Suwanno, Jom; Moser, Debra K.; Lennie, Terry A.; Chung, Misook L.; Wu, Jia-Rong; Dickson, Victoria Vaughan; Carlson, Beverly; Cameron, Jan

doi:10.1016/j.cardfail.2009.01.009

« Previous Next »Journal of Cardiac Failure
Volume 15, Issue 6 , Pages 508-516, August 2009

Heart Failure Self-care in Developed and Developing Countries

Barbara Riegel, DNSc, RN, FAAN, FAHA
- Professor, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, PA
- Reprint requests: Dr. Barbara Riegel, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, 418 Curie Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4217. Tel: 215-898-9927; Fax: 240-282-7707.
Andrea Driscoll, PhD, RN
- Senior Research Fellow, Monash University, Dept of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Melbourne, Australia
Jom Suwanno, PhD, RN
- Assistant Professor, Walailak University School of Nursing, Thailand
Debra K. Moser, DNSc, RN, FAAN, FAHA
- Professor and Gill Endowed Chair, University of Kentucky, College of Nursing, Lexington, KY
Terry A. Lennie, PhD, RN
- Associate Professor, University of Kentucky, College of Nursing, Lexington, KY
Misook L. Chung, PhD, RN
- Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky, College of Nursing, Lexington, KY
Jia-Rong Wu, PhD, RN
- Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Kentucky, College of Nursing, Lexington, KY
Victoria Vaughan Dickson, PhD, RN
- Assistant Professor, New York University, College of Nursing, New York, NY
Beverly Carlson, MS, RN
- Lecturer, School of Nursing, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Jan Cameron, MSN, RN, PhD STUDENT
- School of Nursing and Midwifery, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia

Received 30 September 2008; received in revised form 21 January 2009; accepted 26 January 2009. published online 16 March 2009.

Abstract

Background

Heart failure (HF) self-care is poor in developed countries like the United States, but little is known about self-care in developing countries.

Methods and Results

A total of 2082 adults from 2 developed (United States and Australia) and 2 developing countries (Thailand and Mexico) were studied in a descriptive, comparative study. Self-care was measured using the Self-Care of HF Index, which provided scores on self-care maintenance, management, and confidence. Data were analyzed using regression analysis after demographic (age, gender, education), clinical (functional status, experience with the diagnosis, comorbid conditions), and setting of enrollment (hospital or clinic) differences were controlled. When adequate self-care was defined as a standardized score ≥70%, self-care was inadequate in most scales in most groups. Self-care maintenance was highest in the Australian sample and lowest in the Thai sample (P < .001). Self-care management was highest in the US sample and lowest in the Thai sample (P < .001). Self-care confidence was highest in the Mexican sample and lowest in the Thai sample (P < .001). Determinants differed for the three types of self-care (eg, experience with HF was associated only with self-care maintenance).