Association between self-care and hospital readmissions of patients with heart failure.

Objective: to assess the association between self-care and the number of hospital readmissions of patients with heart failure (ADHF) and test the applicability of two self-care assessment tools. longitudinal study, performed in a cardiology reference hospital in southern Brazil.

Method: it included 82 patients with a mean age of 61.85±12.33 years, 57.3% male. The mean score of self-care assessment found the scales European Heart Failure Self-care Behavior Scale and Self-care Scale for Patients with Heart Failure was unsatisfactory.

Results: it was observed an average of 2.57±1.66 rehospitalization last year for decompensated heart failure. There was a correlation between self-care scores with the number of hospital readmissions for decompensated HF. Education and age were associated to self-care of HF patients.

Conclusion: both scales assess self-care in a relevant way, and correlated their indexes.