The changes and factors associated with post-discharge self-care behaviors among Chinese patients with heart failure

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of patients with HF at baseline (N=128)

Characteristics	N (%)
Sex
Male	76 (59.4)
Female	52 (40.6)
Age of patient (years)
≤60	36 (28.1)
61–74	52 (40.6)
≥75	40 (31.3)
Educational level
Primary school or below	69 (53.9)
Junior high school	26 (20.3)
Senior high school	12 (9.4)
College or above	21 (16.4)
Marital status
Married	103 (80.5)
Spinsterhood/divorced/widowed	25 (19.5)
Employed
Yes	75 (58.6)
No	53 (41.4)
Financial source for treatment
Medical insurance and other insurance	103 (80.5)
Self-support	25 (19.5)
Monthly income (in Yuan)
≤1,000	20 (15.6)
1,001–1,999	37 (28.9)
2,000–2,999	47 (36.7)
≥3,000	24 (18.8)
NYHA classification
I	41 (32.0)
II	65 (50.8)
III	22 (17.2)
Duration of HF (years)
<1	56 (43.8)
≥1	72 (56.2)
Numbers of comorbidities of patients
≤1	41 (32.0)
2	51 (39.9)
≥3	36 (28.1)

Abbreviations: HF, heart failure; NYHA, New York Heart Association.

Table 2 Changes in scores of self-care at three time points

Time	n	Self-care Mean (SD)	F	P-value
Baseline	128	28.56 (5.63)	4.090	0.017*
1 month following discharge	123	28.82 (5.57)
3 months following discharge	120	30.41 (5.58)

Note:

* P<0.05.

Abbreviation: F, statistic from an analysis of variance.

Table 3 Significant differences in self-care behaviors in the patients’ subgroups at three time points

Characteristics of patients	Self-care (T0) Mean (SD) (n=128)	Self-care (T1) Mean (SD) (n=123)	Self-care (T2) Mean (SD) (n=120)
Age
≤60	23.86 (5.76)	24.80 (6.39)	26.00 (5.54)
61–74	28.43 (5.62)	28.55 (5.44)	30.35 (5.52)
≥75	29.06 (3.29)	29.63 (4.13)	31.00 (3.46)
F	7.96**	6.09*	6.87*
Educational level
Primary school or below	31.04 (4.33)	31.32 (4.32)	32.65 (4.39)
Junior high school	27.41 (5.05)	27.81 (5.14)	29.64 (5.54)
Senior high school	24.75 (4.51)	25.16 (4.32)	27.08 (4.72)
College or above	24.00 (6.43)	24.02 (5.95)	25.90 (5.99)
F	14.91**	16.06**	12.49**
Monthly family income (in Yuan)
≤1,000	32.00 (1.09)	32.67 (1.96)	34.16 (1.47)
1,001–1,999	31.67 (3.75)	31.44 (3.39)	33.17 (3.45)
2,000–2,999	31.30 (4.14)	31.30 (4.10)	32.85 (4.69)
≥3,000	27.43 (5.85)	27.55 (5.58)	29.46 (5.67)
F	5.56**	4.52**	4.83**
Numbers of comorbidities
≤1	24.45 (5.31)	25.24 (5.56)	26.63 (5.30)
2	28.57 (3.23)	28.43 (3.37)	30.13 (3.69)
≥3	32.75 (0.96)	33.25 (1.25)	34.75 (2.21)
F	39.84**	33.27**	33.48**

Note:

* P<0.05,

** P<0.01.

Abbreviations: F, statistic from an analysis of variance; T₀, at baseline; T₁, 1 month after discharge; T₂, 3 months after discharge; SD, standard deviation.

Table 4 Correlation analyses of self-care behaviors and social support, self-efficacy, and psychological status at three time points

Variables	Scores of self-care behaviors
	T0	T1	T2
Social support (T0)	−0.474**	−0.469**	−0.492**
Social support (T1)	−0.459**	−0.366**	−0.368**
Social support (T2)	−0.456**	−0.461**	−0.383**
Self-efficacy (T0)	−0.379**	−0.313**	−0.331**
Self-efficacy (T1)	−0.403**	−0.388**	−0.461**
Self-efficacy (T2)	−0.401**	−0.441**	−0.450**
Depression (T0)	0.042	0.027	0.009
Depression (T1)	0.033	0.036	0.007
Depression (T2)	0.045	0.037	0.034
Anxiety (T0)	0.044	0.040	0.010
Anxiety (T1)	0.032	0.031	0.015
Anxiety (T2)	0.050	0.038	0.032

Note:

** P<0.01.

Abbreviations: T₀, at baseline; T₁, 1 month following discharge; T₂, 3 months following discharge.

Table 5 Multivariate analysis of the patients’ self-care behaviors at three time points (N=128)

	B	SE	B^*	t	P-value
Factors at T0 (n=128)
Educational level	−2.056	0.384	−0.310	−5.349	0.000**
Numbers of comorbidities	2.154	0.324	0.359	6.641	0.000**
Social support	−0.344	0.037	−0.487	−9.254	0.000**
Factors at T1 (n=123)
Educational level	−1.293	0.387	−0.197	−3.341	0.001**
Numbers of comorbidities	1.197	0.327	0.202	3.662	0.000**
Social support	−0.277	0.039	−0.386	−7.185	0.000**
Self-efficacy	−1.668	0.291	−0.356	−5.735	0.000**
Factors at T2 (n=120)
Educational level	−1.120	0.419	−0.171	−2.676	0.009**
Numbers of comorbidities	1.513	0.356	0.255	4.248	0.000**
Social support	−0.201	0.040	−0.287	−4.996	0.000**
Self-efficacy	−1.915	0.302	−0.401	−6.343	0.000**

Notes:

** P<0.01. Adjusted R²=0.434 at T₀, P<0.000. Adjusted R²=0.457 at T₁, P<0.000. Adjusted R²=0.423 at T₂, P<0.000.

Abbreviations: B*, standardized coefficient; T₀, at baseline; T₁, 1 month following discharge; T₂, 3 months following discharge.