Self-care confidence mediates self-care maintenance and management in patients with heart failure

Background: Literature highlights the influence of self-care confidence on self-care in patients with heart failure (HF), but little is known whether it explains the influence of other determinants of self-care.

Objectives: To examine whether confidence explained the associations of social support and HF-knowledge with self-care.

Methods: In a descriptive, correlational study, 100 patients with HF completed questionnaires on self-care, social support, and HF-specific knowledge. Regression analyses were used to examine associations between perceived support and HF-knowledge and self-care.

Results: Self-care confidence mediated the association between social support and self-care maintenance (path reduced from Beta = 0.713 to 0.395) and HF-knowledge and maintenance (path reduced from Beta = 2.569 to 1.798) and management (path reduced from Beta = -0.272 to -0.144).

Conclusion: Self-care confidence explains the influence of social support and knowledge on self-care. Supporting self-care confidence may be a key target for interventions to improve disease management and behaviors in patients with HF.