AVALIAÇÃO DO AUTOCUIDADO NOS PORTADORES DE INSUFICIÊNCIA CARDÍACA

The objective in this study was to characterize the clinical and sociodemographic profile of heart failure patients and to describe the self-care behavior. Descriptive and cross-sectional study with a non-probabilistic sample of 57 cardiology nursing patients at a public hospital in Recife, Brazil, between May and September 2016. The self-care was assessed by means of the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index version 6.2, Brazilian version. The participants’ mean age was 62.9 years; 31 (54.4%) men; 36 (63.2%) literate; 26 (45.6%) suffering from hypertensive etiology and 30 (52.6%) in functional class III. The mean scores for the subscales indicated inappropriate self-care (self-care maintenance: 43.3; self-care management: 37.5 and confidence in self-care: 54.3). Higher scores were associated with education, with literate participants obtaining a mean score of 61 points (p=0.002). Investments are needed to improve self-care and nursing can play a relevant role in this improvement.