Determinants of heart failure self-care behaviour in community-based patients: a cross-sectional study

Background:Self-care behaviour in patients with heart failure (HF) represents a series of specific actions that patients should take, as an important treatment component.Aims:The aim of this study was to identify potential determinants of HF self-care in ambulatory patients with stable systolic HF.Methods:In a cross-sectional study of 318 patients with chronic systolic HF recruited in 48 German primary care practices, we evaluated the patient-reported European HF Self-care Behaviour scale (EHFScBs) assessments (range 12–60, where lower scores indicate better self-care). Potential determinants included socio-demographic (e.g. age, living status), clinical (e.g. NYHA class, LVEF, NT-proBNP levels, co-morbidities), behavioural (e.g. smoking and alcohol intake), psychosocial (SF-36 scales and KCCQ domains, e.g. quality of life and self-efficacy) and depression status (PHQ-D), plus previous health care utilisation. Mixed regression modelling was applied.Results:Patients had a mean (SD) age of 69.0 (10.4) years...