Adequate self-care (EHFScBs score ≥70; n=464) was associated with significantly fewer all-cause hospitalizations compared to inadequate self-care (score <70; n=559) in heart failure patients.
Observational (n=1,023)
Does a threshold of 70 on the European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviour scale (EHFScBs) accurately discriminate clinical outcomes in heart failure patients?
A threshold of 70 on the EHFScBs accurately discriminates between adequate and inadequate self-care, predicting all-cause hospitalizations in heart failure patients.
OBJECTIVE: The European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviour scale (EHFScBs) is a valid patient-reported questionnaire to measure self-care behavior of heart failure (HF) patients. We assessed the interpretability of the EHFScBs. METHODS: We used data of 1,023 HF patients. Interpretability refers to the clinical meaning of the score and its changes over time. We operationalized interpretability by evaluating distributions of EHFScBs scores across relevant HF subgroups by eyeballing, by testing the risk on hospitalizations and mortality of a plausible threshold, and by determining a clinically relevant minimal important change (MIC). The scale score ranged from 0 to 100, with a higher score meaning better self-care. A threshold of ≥70 was defined as adequate and <70 as inadequate self-care. RESULTS: The EHFScBs scores were similarly normally distributed among the subgroups with a mean between 57.8 (SD 19.4) and 72.0 (SD 18.0). The 464 HF patients with adequate self-care had significantly less all-cause hospitalizations than the 559 patients with inadequate self-care. CONCLUSION: The degree of self-care showed to be independent of relevant HF subgroups. A single threshold of 70 accurately discriminated between patients with adequate and inadequate self-care. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The threshold of 70 can be used in designing studies and informing health policy makers.
Wagenaar et al. (Sun,) conducted a observational in Heart failure (n=1,023). Adequate self-care (EHFScBs score ≥70) vs. Inadequate self-care (EHFScBs score <70) was evaluated on All-cause hospitalizations. Adequate self-care (EHFScBs score ≥70; n=464) was associated with significantly fewer all-cause hospitalizations compared to inadequate self-care (score <70; n=559) in heart failure patients.