The Challenges of People With Heart Failure in Activity of Daily Living Performance: A Qualitative Study in Iranian Context

People with Heart Failure (HF) encounter many limitations while performing their daily activities. These limitations can have adverse effects on their quality of life and self-satisfaction. Hence, to assess problems in the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and plan effective interventions, we should properly identify people’s challenges in performing daily activities. This study aimed to recognize the ADL challenges in people with HF and their effects on ADL.

Twelve people with HF (aged 38 to 65 years) recruited from Rajai Hospital participated in this study using a purposeful sampling method. They were interviewed up to data saturation. Each semi-structured interview session lasted for 20-45 minutes (average 32.5 minutes). The obtained data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis approach. 

The challenges of the participants with performing ADL were summarized under two themes: “obstacles preventing normal functioning” and “disturbances in doing daily living activities as a burden”. The first theme consisted of “interference of previous experience in performance” and “challenges during the performance”. The second theme consisted of “personal laborious activities” and “interruption of activities performance related to family roles and outdoor tasks”.

Patients with HF have serious challenges with performing ADLs which are crucial for their living. Therefore, identifying their barriers and needs will play a major role in designing compensatory, educational, and coping programs based on the limited activities and the interrupted parameters in ADL performance.