Heart Failure Knowledge, Symptom Perception, and Symptom Management in Patients With Heart Failure

Abstract

Background Prevention of heart failure (HF) exacerbations requires that patients carefully self-manage their condition. Symptom perception is a key component in self-care for patients with HF that involves monitoring for HF symptoms and recognizing symptom changes. Heart failure knowledge is a prerequisite for better symptom perception and symptom management. However, the relationships among HF knowledge, symptom perception, and symptom management remain unclear. Objective The aim of this study was to explore the inter-relationships among HF knowledge, symptom monitoring, symptom recognition, and symptom response in patients with HF. Method We included 185 patients with HF in this study. Heart failure knowledge was measured using the Dutch HF Knowledge Scale. Symptom monitoring, symptom recognition, and symptom response were measured using the Self-care of HF Index. Structural equation modeling was used for data analyses. Results Heart failure knowledge was associated with symptom monitoring (β =.357, P