Correlation between Affective Status and Self-care Behaviors in Patients with Heart Failure

Poor self-care in patients with heart failure (HF) is directly associated with the patient’s general health getting deteriorated and hospitalized.

One of the factors influencing compliance with self-care behaviors is mood status. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between affective status with self-care behaviors in patients with HF.

In this analytical cross-sectional study, 372 HF outpatients referring to a specialized heart clinic have been included using convenient sampling method. Study tools had 4 parts including demographic and social factors, the European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviors scale, and positive and negative affect scales. The collected data were analyzed using multivariate linear regression model.

The multivariate model adjusted for patient’s education, suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and heart failure duration showed that positive affects (β=0.113, standard error (SE) =.056, P=0.046) and negative affect (β=0.341, SE=.053, P<0.001) were significantly related to self-care behaviors, but anhedonia did not have any significant relation with self-care behaviors (β=-0.105, SE=0.097, P=0.280). The separate models accounted for 8 to 11% of the variance in the self-care behaviors.

The result of current study indicates that patients' mood statue including positive and negative affect are significant contributors of self-care behaviors. So, it is recommended that in addition to the patient’s physical condition, the rehabilitation program of the heart failure patients should incorporate their psychological and mental status.