Determination of Knowledge and Self Care Behavior of Heart Failure Pateints According to Orem Theory

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a chronic disease that requires special lifelong self-care behaviors. These patients need having self-care behaviors to confront their disease problems. Aim of the study: To assess patient knowledge about heart failure and determine the self-care behavior of heart failure patients. Subject and methods: To conduct this study, a descriptive research design was utilized. Sample: a convenient sample of 60 patients with heart failure. The study was conducted in coronary care unit at Abou-tig central hospital. Tools: One tool was utilized to collect data for this study: Patient interviewing questionnaire sheet including three parts: Part (1) demographic characteristics of the patients, part (2): Dutch heart failure knowledge scale, part (3) Heart failure self-care behavior scale, Results: The majority of the studied patients (75%) had unsatisfactory knowledge levels, while the minority (26.7%) of them had good self-care behavior. Conclusion: The majority of the studied patients had unsatisfied level of knowledge about heart failure and had poor self-care behavior. Recommendation: patients with heart Failure are in pressing need for health education about their illness which will reflect on their self-care behavior and results in better quality of life