A model predicting health status of patients with heart failure.
OBJECTIVE
To test the causal relationships among the components of sociodemographic (age, gender, education, and income), illness characteristics (duration of illness, severity of illness, and comorbid diseases), and self-management ability, and health status in the model of health status of patients with heart failure (HSHF).


METHODS
: Descriptive cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Participants were 400 heart failure patients hospitalized or attending an out patient clinic at six hospitals in southern Thailand. A survey-interview method was used for data collection. Questionnaires were related to study factors including sociodemographics, duration of illness, the New York Heart Association Functional Classification (NYHA-FC), the Charlson Comorbidity Index, the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (SCHFI), the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36). The relationship of the study variables was tested and modified under the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique by using LISREL.


RESULTS
The initial hypothesized model did not fit the data. The modified model adequately fit the data and accounted for 64% of the variance in health status. Age had a direct negative effect on health status (beta = -0.20, P < 0.01) and had an indirect negative effect on health status through self-management ability, severity of illness and comorbid disease (beta = -0.13, P < 0.01). Education had a direct positive effect on health status (beta = 0.12, P < 0.01). Gender and income had indirect negative effects on health status through severity of illness (beta = -0.05; -0.05, P < 0.05). Duration of illness had an indirect positive effect on health status through self-management ability (beta = 0.09, P < 0.05). Severity of illness and comorbid disease had a direct negative effect on health status (beta = -0.31; -0.16, P < 0.01, respectively) and indirect negative effect on health status through self-management ability (beta = -0.06; -0.05, P < 0.05, respectively). Self-management ability had a direct positive effect on health status (beta = 0.38, P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
This model provides a guideline for explaining and predicting health status of patients with heart failure. Continuity care programs promoting self-management ability should be developed and implemented both in hospital-based and home-based settings in order to improve health status.
Suwanno
Jom
J
Walailak University School of Nursing, Thailand.
Petpichetchian
Wongchan
W
Riegel
Barbara
B
Issaramalai
Sang-Arun
SA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012648:Self Care; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013785:Thailand