Investigating the Effect of Education on Self-Care among Chronic Heart Failure Patients Admitted to Shahid Mostafa Khomeini Hospital of Ilam

BACKGROUND: Congestive heart failure is a common cause of hospitalization. If patients can adhere to self-care behaviors, the progression of the disease can be prevented. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of education on self-care in chronic heart failure patients admitted to Shahid Mostafa Khomeini Hospital of Ilam in 2016.

METHODS: This study is of intervention typeand 40 patient’s sufferingfrom heart failure were selected. Research tools include a standard indicator questionnaire for measuring self-care by patients. The questionnaire contains 22 questions about their certainty ofself-care. Four point Likert scale was used for scoring and SPSS V.19 was used for data analysis.

RESULTS: The sample consisted of 16 men (40%) and 24 women (60%) most of which were married (75%). The statistical correlation between the total score of self-care behavior before and after education was significant (P VALUE = 0.003), which shows that the education conducted on the patients was effective and caused more scores in all areas.

CONCLUSION: Self-care behavior can be attained and spread through education. It is recommended that the patients suffering are given enough information about their diet and activities after their discharge from hospital.