TREATMENT ADHERENCE IN HEART FAILURE PATIENTS
Athanasia Kikira, Athanasia Tsami
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Publication year:
2017
Authors:
- Kikira Athanasia, Post-graduate program, Neurological Disorders - Evidence Based Practice Department of Nursing,TEI of Athens
- Tsami Athanasia, Post-graduate program, Neurological Disorders - Evidence Based Practice Department of Nursing,TEI of Athens
Keywords index:
Pages: 31-44
Abstract:
Adherence to treatment of patients with heart failure is one of the main goals of everyday clinical practice. The purposeof the present study was to review literature concerning the factors affecting treatment adherence of patients with heart failure. The methodologyfollowed included a review of research and other studies published on pubmed. Results:Adherence to treatment includes taking drugs, daily measurement of body weight, smoking cessation, management of symptoms, and restriction of sodium and fluid and alcohol use. Interventions to improve the level of adherence should include education, counseling support, evaluation of anxiety and depression, simplifying dosing regimens, etc. In particular, the education of patients with heart failure should target to the systematic evaluation and improvement of self-care. Finally, the results showed that at higher risk of non-compliance are the elderly, patients with depressive symptoms, patients of low level of education and those who do not have a strong belief in the necessity of the treatment. Conclusions: Patient adherence is a basic principle of treatment of heart failure.
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