Aplicación de la escala europea de autocuidado en insuficiencia cardíaca (EHFScBS) en una unidad de insuficiencia cardíaca en España

Self-care is important for patients with heart failure. Recently, the European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviour Scale was developed for its assessment. We evaluated 335 patients using the Spanish version of the scale and assessed whether self-care was influenced by sex, age, etiology, or follow-up duration at a heart failure unit. Possible scores on the scale range from 12 to 60, with a low score indicating good self-care. We observed a mean (SD) score of 24.2 (7.7). There was no significant correlation between the score attained and the value of any of the parameters analyzed, except for follow-up duration at the unit (r = −0.37; P<.001). The score was 28.1 (1.9) in patients evaluated at first visit, 23.1 (6.1) at three months, 24.1 (6.6) at six months, 23.3 (8.2) at nine months, 22.8 (7.3) at twelve months and finally 20.0 (5.5) in patients evaluated fifteen months after their first visit.