Educational intervention to improve self-care behaviours for heart failure patients who develop renal insufficiency

Abstract Background Renal insufficiency is common in adults with heart failure. Promoting heart failure self-care behaviours contributes to avoid poor prognosis of acute kidney injury. Aims To introduce a nurse-led educational program for patients with heart failure who suffer from acute kidney injury and asses its impact on patients' perception and self-care behaviours. Methods In this pretest-posttest interventional study, patients were assessed for their perception and self-care behaviours before and after enrolling in an educational program. Results Among fifty patients, ages means were 51.16 years old (SD=5.35). Based on New York Heart Association (NYHA), 62% of patients had class II and IV symptoms, and 76 % had mild to moderate decrease in estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate. In the pre-education assessment, moderate deficits were present in both perception and self-care behaviours. After delivery of self-care education, patients demonstrated an improvement in perception (t: 3.65, df: 49, SE: 0.34, p<0.001, CI: 0.61-2.19), and self-care behaviours (t: 8.66, df: 49, SE: 1.05, p<0.001, CI: 7.02-11.18). In multivariate analysis, the educational program explained 68.1% of the variation in posttest self-care behaviours scores. Conclusion Education on self-care behaviour improved the perception and self-care of patients with heart failure who suffer from evolving acute kidney injury.