Abstract:
Heart failure is a serious medical condition that occurs when the heart is unable to
pump sufficient blood to meet the needs of the tissues for oxygen and nutrients. Good self-care is
an essential behavior in long term management and maintenance of physiologic stability, better
medical and person-centered outcomes. Poor self-care behavior deteriorates the outcomes of heart
failure patients. However, there were no sufficient evidences that illustrate the topic in the country,
including the study area.
Objective: the aim of this study was to assess the level of self-care behavior and associated factors
among adult heart failure patients at outpatient cardiac follow-up unit of Wachemo University
Nigst Eleni Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Hossana.
Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among 250 heart failure patients
from July 5-August 4, 2021. All adult heart failure patients who fulfill the inclusion criteria and
have appointment during study period were included in the study. Interviewer assisted structured
questionnaire and medical chart review was used to collect data. Epidata version 3.1 and SPSS
version 20 were used for data entry and analysis respectively. Bivariate and multivariable analysis
was computed. Variables with a p-value ≤0.25 significance level in the bivariate logistic regression
were entered into multivariable logistic regression model to control confounding. Variables with
a p-value <0.05 in multivariable logistic regression were considered as statistically significant. The
model fitness was checked by Hosmer and Lemeshow test.
Results: From the total of heart failure patients planned to include in the study, 240 eligible were
interviewed with the response rate of 96%. Among these, 140(58.3%) [95% CI: 52.6, 64.9] had
poor self-care behavior. Age>54: 9.891 [2.228, 43.922], poor knowledge: 6.980[1.065, 45.727],
depression: 4.973[1.107, 22.338], low social support: 6.060[1.373, 26.739], insomnia:
4.801[1.019, 22.622] and duration with HF<1 year: 5.782[1.438, 23.247] were factors associated
with poor SCB.
Conclusion: In this study, more than half of participants attending at WUNECSH in outpatient
cardiac follow-up unit had poor self-care behavior. Of the study variables, older age, poor
knowledge, depressive symptoms, low social support, insomnia and short duration with heart
failure were related with poor self-care behavior. Thus, the findings highlight importance of
assessing level of self-care behavior and implicate direction to take action to enhance level of SCB
