Efficacy of nurse-led cardiac rehabilitation on health care behaviours in adults with chronic heart failure: An experimental design

Introduction: Nonadherence and poor health care behaviors contribute to worsening of heart failure symptoms, in many cases leading to increased morbidity and mortality. Aim: To assess the efficacy of nurse-led cardiac rehabilitation on health care behaviours in adults with chronic heart failure. Method. An experimental design was conducted in India from January to December of 2019. A sample size of 200 adults with heart failure from a tertiary cardiac care center was enrolled. Participants were allocated into an intervention group (n = 100) and a control group (n = 100). A nurse-led cardiac rehabilitation program using a virtual educational video and reminder telephone calls was given to the intervention group for six months. A modified heart failure adherence and health care behaviours scale was used. Results: 78% of the adults in the intervention group and 79% of the adults in the control group were males. 43% of the adults in the intervention group and 32% of the adults in the control group had ≥2 years of chronic heart failure. 42.27% of the participants in the intervention group and 35.05% of the adults in the control group indicated that medical follow-ups were essential. 21.65% of the adults in the intervention group and 13.40% of the adults in the control group expressed no difficulty adhering to the sodium restriction in the posttest2. The participants in the intervention group had higher health care behaviours compared to control group, p < 0.001. Conclusion/Implication: Cardiac nurses need to adopt cardiac rehabilitation in continuity of care for improving health care behaviours for adults with chronic heart failure.