Compliance with self-care practices and associated factors among patients with heart failure specialised hospitals

Background/Aims For patients with heart failure, compliance with self-care practices has a major influence on disease outcomes, reducing healthcare costs and increasing the patient's standard of living. Low levels of compliance can lead to re-hospitalisation, mortality and increased expenditure. This study assessed compliance with self-care practices and associated factors among patients with heart failure in north-west Ethiopia. Methods A multi-centre, institutional-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with heart failure, recruited using systematic random sampling. Data were collected through interviewer-administered questionnaires on sociodemographic characteristics, compliance with self-care practices, heart failure knowledge, self-efficacy, social support, sleep quality and levels of depression and anxiety. Participants' clinical data were collected from hospital records. Data were analysed using EpiData (v.4.6) and SPSS (v.25). Variables with a P-value of <0.2 in the bivariable regression analysis were included in the multivariable logistic regression analysis. A P-value of <0.05 indicated statistical significance. Results Among the 406 participants, 27.6% were considered to have good overall compliance with self-care practices and 52.0% had good knowledge of heart failure. Participants with good knowledge were 7.52 times more likely to have good compliance than those with poor knowledge. Those with strong social support, good self-efficacy and good sleep quality were 4.13, 3.27 and 2.24 times more likely to have good compliance, respectively. Those living in urban areas were 2.34 times more likely to have good compliance than those living in rural areas. Conclusions Compliance with self-care practice recommendations is a key area for improvement in heart failure care. This may be affected by cognitive and psychosocial factors, including knowledge of heart failure, social support, self-efficacy and sleep quality, as well as place of residence. Clinical factors may not have a significant impact on self-care practices. Implications for practice Healthcare organisations should enhance educational programmes for patients with heart failure to improve their compliance with self-care recommendations. It may also be beneficial to introduce interventions that promote selfefficacy, strengthen social support and improve quality of sleep in this patient group.