National multicenter survey on self-management among elderly chronic heart failure patients

Objective To understand the self-management status among elderly chronic heart failure (CHF) patients and to compare the regional differences of self-management. Methods By random cluster sampling, we investigated 6 124 elderly CHF patients from 102 hospitals in five regions, East China (Jiangxi Province, Shanghai Municipality, Zhejiang Province) , West China (Qinghai Province, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Shaanxi Province, Gansu Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Yunnan Province) , South China (Hainan Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region) , North China (Heilongjiang Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) , Central China (Henan Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province) . The investigation result statistics were carried out and regional differences were compared. Results The self-management of elderly CHF patients had a low to medium level with 61.25% (49/80) <80% for the scoring rate. The scores of East China and Central China were higher and the score of West China was low; the regional differences were statistical (H=59.07, P<0.01) . The score of diet management was highest with 66.67% for the scoring rate (8/12) ; East China had the highest score, and West China had the lowest score; the regional differences were statistical (H=92.49, P<0.01) . The scoring rate of medication management was 65.00% (13/20) with the highest in East China and low in North China and West China; the regional differences were statistical (H=351.10, P<0.01) . Mental/social adjustment management was poor with 60.00% (12/20) for the scoring rate; the scores of Ease China were higher than those of North and West China; the regional differences were statistical (H=8.84, P<0.01) . Symptom management was the worst with 57.14% (16/28) for the scoring rate; the scores of East and Central China were high; the regional differences were also statistical (H=17.62, P<0.01) . Conclusions Self-management of elderly CHF patients needs to be improved. Systematic and targeted health education for different regions should be carried out to improve patients' self-management and to reduce the disease burden. Key words: Heart failure; Aged; Multicenter study; Self-management