Relationship between psychosocial variables and compliance in patients with heart failure.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to describe the socio-demographic, psychosocial, and social support variables that predict compliance to treatment regimens in HF patients.


METHODS
Semistructured interviews were conducted on 82 patients at an outpatient heart failure clinic to gather data related to compliance behaviors. Five standardized instruments were used to gather data on patients' psychosocial health status and perceived social support.


RESULTS
The overall compliance rate was 85.13 (10.01%). Higher levels of compliance (> 90%) were noted for follow-up appointments, medications, smoking, and alcohol cessation. Poor compliance was observed with dietary and exercise recommendations (71% and 53%, respectively). In a multivariate model, higher education, higher mental and physical health status and neuroticism independently contributed to 24% of the variance in overall compliance.


CONCLUSIONS
The study supports that HF patients had poor compliance with dietary and exercise regimens. Since following a dietary and exercise regimen has been demonstrated to reduce morbidity in this population, strategies to increase compliance should be rigorously pursued [corrected].
Evangelista
L S
LS
California State University, Los Angeles, School of Nursing, USA.
Berg
J
J
Dracup
K
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over / Q000523:psychology; D004035:Diet Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors