Patient and Professional Factors That Impact the Perceived Likelihood and Confidence of Healthcare Professionals to Discuss Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Deactivation in Advanced Heart Failure: Results From an International Factorial Survey.

Background: Rate of implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantations is increasing in patients with advanced heart failure. Despite clear guideline recommendations, discussions addressing deactivation occur infrequently.

Aim: The aim of this article is to explore patient and professional factors that impact perceived likelihood and confidence of healthcare professionals to discuss ICD deactivation.

Comorbidity health pathways in heart failure patients: A sequences-of-regressions analysis using cross-sectional data from 10,575 patients in the Swedish Heart Failure Registry.

Background: Optimally treated heart failure (HF) patients often have persisting symptoms and poor health-related quality of life. Comorbidities are common, but little is known about their impact on these factors, and guideline-driven HF care remains focused on cardiovascular status. The following hypotheses were tested: (i) comorbidities are associated with more severe symptoms and functional limitations and subsequently worse patient-rated health in HF, and (ii) these patterns of association differ among selected comorbidities.

Participants' Experiences of a Sexual Counseling Intervention During Cardiac Rehabilitation: A Nested Qualitative Study Within the CHARMS Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: International guidelines recommend sexual assessment and counseling be offered to all patients with cardiovascular disease during cardiac rehabilitation. However, sexual problems are infrequently addressed. The Cardiac Health and Relationship Management and Sexuality (CHARMS) intervention is a complex, multilevel intervention designed to increase the provision of sexual counseling in cardiac rehabilitation.

"Not getting worse" a qualitative study of patients perceptions of treatment goals in patients with heart failure.

Background: Knowledge of patient reported outcomes helps to provide personalized care on a patient level, optimize care on a population level, and identify the most appropriate patient reported outcomes for clinical trials. To be able to provide personalized care to patients with HF, it is important to know which treatment goals patients with HF consider the most important. This is particularly useful for interventions aimed at improving symptoms, functional status, or health-related quality of life.

Nursing research in heart failure care: a position statement of the american association of heart failure nurses (AAHFN).

Background: Heart Failure (HF) is a public health problem globally affecting approximately 6 million in the United States.

Objectives: A tailored position statement was developed by the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses (AAHFN) and their Research Consortium to assist researchers, funding institutions and policymakers with improving HF clinical advancements and outcomes.

Methods: A comprehensive review was conducted using multiple search terms in various combinations to describe gaps in HF nursing science.

N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and prognosis in Caucasian vs. Asian patients with heart failure.

Aims: N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is the most frequently used biomarker in heart failure (HF), but its prognostic utility across ethnicities is unclear.

Methods And Results: This study included 546 Caucasians with HF from the Coordinating Study Evaluating Outcomes of Advising and Counseling in Heart Failure and 578 Asians with HF from the Singapore Heart Failure Outcomes and Phenotypes study. NT-proBNP was measured at discharge after HF hospitalization.

Dialogues between nurses, patients with heart failure and their partners during a dyadic psychoeducational intervention: a qualitative study.

Objectives: To describe nurses' documentation of the content in a psychoeducational intervention inspired by Stuifbergen's model addressing cognitive, supportive and behavioural needs of patient-partner dyads affected by heart failure.

Design: A descriptive qualitative design was used analysing nurses' documentation in a dialogue guide based on a health promotion model.

Settings: The dialogue guide was used during three nurse-led sessions at two heart failure clinics in Sweden with patients affected with heart failure and their partners during the years 2005-2008.

Optimism and quality of life in patients with heart failure.

Objectives: Health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) of patients with heart failure (HF) is low despite the aim of HF treatment to improve HR-QoL. To date, most studies have focused on medical and physical factors in relation to HR-QoL, few data are available on the role of emotional factors such as dispositional optimism. This study examines the prevalence of optimism and pessimism in HF patients and investigates how optimism and pessimism are associated with different patient characteristics and HR-QoL.

Self-efficacy Mediates the Relationship Between Motivation and Physical Activity in Patients With Heart Failure.

Background: Motivation is necessary in patients with heart failure (HF) who are attempting to become more physically active but may not be sufficient to initiate physical activity. Self-efficacy might explain the relationship between motivation and physical activity.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the role of exercise self-efficacy in the relationship between exercise motivation and physical activity in patients with HF.

Interpretability of the European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviour scale.

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.

Patterns of self-care and clinical events in a cohort of adults with heart failure: 1 year follow-up.

Background: Heart failure (HF) self-care is important in reducing clinical events (all-cause mortality, emergency room visits and hospitalizations). HF self-care behaviors are multidimensional and include maintenance (i.e.

'heartfailurematters.org', an educational website for patients and carers from the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology: objectives, use and future directions.

Aims: In 2007, the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) launched the information website heartfailurematters.org (HFM site) with the aim of creating a practical tool through which to provide advice and guidelines for living with heart failure to patients, their carers, health care professionals and the general public worldwide. The website is managed by the ESC at the European Heart House and is currently available in nine languages.

Psychometric Properties of the 9-item European Heart Failure Self-care Behavior Scale Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Rasch Analysis Among Iranian Patients.

Background: The 9-item European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior scale (EHFScB-9) is a self-reported questionnaire commonly used to capture the self-care behavior of people with heart failure (HF).

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the EHFScB-9's factorial structure and categorical functioning of the response scale and differential item functioning (DIF) across subpopulations in Iran.

Methods: Patients with HF (n = 380; 60.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Thirst Distress Scale for patients with heart failure.

Background: Patients with heart failure can experience thirst distress. However, there is no instrument to measure this in patients with heart failure. The aim of the present study was to develop the Thirst Distress Scale for patients with Heart Failure (TDS-HF) and to evaluate psychometric properties of the scale.

Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

Heart failure is a global public health problem that affects more than 26 million people worldwide. The global burden of heart failure is growing and is expected to increase substantially with the ageing of the population. Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction accounts for approximately 50% of all cases of heart failure in the United States and is associated with substantial morbidity and reduced quality of life.

Quality of life of family caregivers of patients with a left ventricular assist device in Japan.

Background: The role of caregivers is important for the successful support of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) patients. We aimed to (1) evaluate quality of life (QoL) of caregivers pre-and post-LVAD implant and (2) identify factors associated with caregivers' QoL.

Methods: The caregivers' QoL was assessed with the Short Form-8 before implant, at 3 and 6 months after LVAD implantation.

Aspects of family caregiving as addressed in planned discussions between nurses, patients with chronic diseases and family caregivers: a qualitative content analysis.

Background: Caregiving by family members of elderly with chronic conditions is currently intensifying in the context of an aging population and health care reform in the Netherlands. It is essential that nurses have attention for supporting roles of family caregivers of older patients and address family caregiving aspects on behalf of the continuity of care. This study aims to explore what aspects of family caregiving were addressed during planned discussions between nurses, patients and family caregivers in the hospital.

Development of an international comorbidity education framework.

Context: The increasing number of people living with multiple chronic conditions in addition to an index condition has become an international healthcare priority. Health education curricula have been developed alongside single condition frameworks in health service policy and practice and need redesigning to incorporate optimal management of multiple conditions.

Aim: Our aims were to evaluate current teaching and learning about comorbidity care amongst the global population of healthcare students from different disciplines and to develop an International Comorbidity Education Framework (ICEF) for incorporating comorbidity concepts into health education.

Association Between Sexual Problems and Relationship Satisfaction Among People With Cardiovascular Disease.

Background: Relationship satisfaction is generally positively correlated with sexual satisfaction, but this relation has been poorly examined in people with cardiovascular disease who are at increased risk of sexual problems compared with the general population.

Aim: To document reported changes to sex after a diagnosis of cardiac disease and determine whether there is an association between sexual function and relationship satisfaction.

Methods: Semistructured telephone interviews focused on relationship satisfaction and sexual problems were conducted with 201 people with cardiovascular disease who were currently in a sexual relationship with one main partner and were recruited from six hospital cardiac rehabilitation centers in Ireland.

Development, Usability, and Efficacy of a Serious Game to Help Patients Learn About Pain Management After Surgery: An Evaluation Study.

Background: Postoperative pain is a persistent problem after surgery and can delay recovery and develop into chronic pain. Better patient education has been proposed to improve pain management of patients. Serious games have not been previously developed to help patients to learn how to manage their postoperative pain.

Variables Related to Communication About Prognosis Between Nurses and Patients at Heart Failure Clinics in Sweden and the Netherlands.

Background: In contrast to recommendations in recent guidelines, prognosis is not optimally discussed with patients with heart failure (HF). Reasons for not doing so can be related to both patient and provider characteristics.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore which patient- and nurse-related variables influence discussing prognosis with patients at an HF clinic.