THE EFFECT OF APPLYING ENERGY CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES IN DAILY ACTIVITIES ON THE FATIGUE OF PATIENTS WITH HEART FAILURE

Fatigue is one of the main symptoms in heart failure that leads to intolerance in activities and loss of independence in self-care. The goal of this study is to determine the effect of energy conservation techniques on the fatigue in patients with heart failure.
We conducted a Quasi-experimental study on 51 patients with heart failure by convenience sampling. Data were collected by demographic questionnaire, and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). The samples were divided into two groups, experimental and control, by the randomization method. Energy conservation techniques (ECT) were taught to the experimental group so that they applied these techniques in their daily activities within 6 weeks. Both group completed the FSS questionnaire at the end of the duration. We analyzed the obtained data by SPSS software using descriptive statistics, Independent T test and paired T test.
The results showed that after doing ECT by experimental group, the mean of fatigue severity scores in experimental group reduced. However, in the control group, the mean of the fatigue severity scores increased. In both groups, the difference of mean scores before and after intervention was significant. In general, comparison of mean scores of fatigue severity between two groups was not significant.
Energy conservation techniques as a non-drug approach lead into reducing the fatigue in patients with heart failure and can be used easily.