Heart Failure, Symptoms and Signs
Conditions
Keywords
Heart failure, Self-care behaviors, Symptom recognition, Nurse-led program
Brief summary
Describe a behaviour intervention to analyse self-care engagement in heart failure patients. Allocate patients with heart failure into 2 arms study: a control group and an intervention group.
Detailed description
According to medical record at admission, a pilot study was described and included 63 patients in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class II-III. Patients were recruited in a hospital setting after discharge from a heart failure unit. Patients were allocated into a control group (n=33) and an intervention group (n=30) through the computerised random allocation generator at http://random.org. The pilot study was performed during three months per patient, with four moments of assessment (baseline, first-week follow-up, first-month follow-up, third-month follow-up).
Interventions
BEHAVIORALSymptom recognition
The patient receives a leaflet, which includes information about HF, primary symptoms, awareness of its detection and the fluid management plan. It also receives a weight diary, which helps him/her recall weight fluctuation and contact the nurse or doctor to call for help in a previous stage and avoid hospitalisation. Patients have to explain what they understand by HF, on follow-ups contacts, which are the main symptoms, if they are experiencing any of them and which difficulties managing fluid restriction and weight control. The leading investigator validates the information and teaches back contents if required.
Sponsors
Instituto Politécnico de Leiria
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* adults aged \>18 years old, with diagnosed HF and with no cognitive disability associated.
Exclusion criteria
* patients placed on the heart transplant waiting list and patients in class IV NYHA.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Symptom recognition | up to 3 months | Awareness by a person of the body changes and how they can affect him/her |
| Self-care behaviors | up to 3 months | Analyze if self-care behaviors are improved |
| Emergency and Hospital admissions | up to 3 months | Report if patients with Heart Failure are admitted into hospital or emergency room |
Outcome results
None listed