Patterns, relevance and predictors of heart failure dyadic symptom appraisal:

Background:Caregivers are thought to play a major role in helping patients first appraise and then respond to heart failure (HF) symptoms.Aims:The aims of this study were to: (a) characterise distinct patterns of HF patient–caregiver dyads with respect to symptom appraisal; and (b) link dyadic symptom appraisal to contributions to self-care and caregiver strain.Methods and results:A cross-sectional dyadic descriptive design was used to capture patient and caregiver appraisal of patient HF symptoms (i.e. dyspnoea, fatigue, pain and anxiety). Contributions to self-care were measured using patient and caregiver versions of the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index and the European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviour Scale. Caregiver strain was measured using the Multidimensional Caregiver Strain Index. Multilevel and latent class mixture modelling (LCMM) were used to examine distinct patterns of symptom appraisal. Two patterns of dyadic symptom appraisal were identified: one pattern (n = 24; 38.7%) wherein caregive...