Psychosocial Factors and Self-Care Behaviors among Elderly with Chronic Heart Failure

Psychosocial factors have a significant role in prognosis of patients with heart failure. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between psychosocial factors and self-care behaviors among elderly with HF.
In this study, 184 elderly with HF were selected using the convenience sampling method from 4 teaching hospitals of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Social support was assessed using Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). To assess self-care behaviors, the European Heart failure Self Care Behaviors (EHFSCB) questionnaire was used. Statistical analysis was performed using the t test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Fisher’s exact test, gamma test, and logistic regression of the SPSS version 16.0 software.
The mean self-care score was 31.86 ± 8.09 (minimum 13 and maximum 54) with 95% CI 30.68 to 33.04. Living status (P = 0.001), income (P = 0.003), and prior experiences (P Regarding the results of this study, recognition of psychosocial factors of self-care behaviors among elderly with HF seems necessary.