Heart failure patients' time, symptoms, and actions before a hospital admission.

The objective of this study was to compare newly diagnosed heart failure (HF) patients (n = 64) with chronic HF patients (n = 148) who had been hospitalized on their presenting symptoms and treatment delay times, whom the 2 groups notified and when, the advice they were given by those notified, and the actions they initiated before their hospitalization. Participants in the 2 groups similarly reported shortness of breath on exertion, orthopnea, weakness, edema, and cough. A greater percent of participants in the group with an HF history reported having fatigue compared to the group with no HF history (chi2 = 4.

Gender differences in the health related quality of life of older adults with heart failure.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore whether gender differences exist in health-related quality of life for older adult men and women with heart failure.

Design: A secondary data analysis was conducted on an existing dataset of heart failure patients. The original study used an exploratory, correlational longitudinal design.