Self-care behavior and patients' knowledge about self-care predict rehospitalization among older adults with heart failure

Introduction. This study examined the association of self-care behavior and patients' knowledge about self-care with rehospitalization among older adults with heart failure (HF). Methods. Case-control comparison (116 cases and 209 controls) nested in a prospective cohort of patients aged 65 years and older admitted for HF at 4 Spanish hospitals. Cases were patients experiencing a first emergency rehospitalization in the 6 months following the index hospital admission. Controls were patients who did not undergo a rehospitalization during such time-period. Results. The number of self-care behaviors was inversely associated with the frequency of readmission (p for linear trend: 0.006). Compared with patients showing the appropriate self-care behavior, hospital readmission was more frequent among those who did no go for a walk daily or did not engage in any daily physical activity (hazard ratio [HR] 1.55; 95% confidence limits [CL] 1.04-2.29), and among those who did not keep their medical appointments (HR 1.82; 95% CL 1.10-3.02). Hospital readmission was also more frequent among patients who: failed to take their medication at the scheduled time (HR 2.07; 95% CL 1.15-3.72); stopped taking their medication when it disagreed with them (HR 1.76; 95% CL 1.08-2.85); and failed to adhere to their drug treatment (HR 1.96; 95% CL 1.29-2.98). Furthermore, the fewer the number of behaviors which patients knew to be required for self-care, the greater the frequency of rehospitalization (p for linear trend-0.029). Conclusions. A lower degree of self-care and of patients' knowledge about self-care predicted a higher risk of hospital readmission.