Prediction Model for Self-Care Behaviors among Iranian Elders with Chronic Heart Failure

Heart failure has been recognized as a major cause of hospitalization, morbidity, and increasing healthcare costs. The purpose of this study was to determine causal relationships between the factors predicting self-care in Iranian elders with chronic heart failure.

In the present study, 334 elderly people (194 females and 140 males), with chronic heart failure (CHF), completed questionnaires that covered the areas of psychosocial characteristics including; age, gender, education, income, location, living arrangement, depression, social support, age-related characteristics including cognition, attitudes toward aging, functional status, hearing impairment, visual impairment, poly-pharmacy, Charlson comorbidity index, clinical characteristics including; sodium serum level, systolic BP, ejection fraction, severity of disease, sleep disorders, prior experiences, and self-care behaviors. The relationships between variables were tested under the SEM technique using AMOS version 20.

The collected data was found to not fit with the initial model, however, after modification, the final model fitness was confirmed. Age-related characteristics had no effect on self-care behaviors (r = -0.3; P = 0.221). Social factors had both direct and indirect negative effects on self-care (r = -0.37; P = 0.016) through age-related factors (r = -0.19; P = 0.016). Prior experiences had a direct positive effect on self-care (r = 0.23; P = 0.018).

Developing programs to improve social conditions and designing the educational model based on older adults’ preferences seems necessary.