The relationship between caregiver contributions to self-care and quality of life in heart failure patients in Ardabil hospitals in Ardebil-Iran

Background: Heart Failure (HF) is one of the most common chronic diseases in worldwide. The long process of chronic diseases and their impact on patients’ health dimensions require effective care methods to control the physical, psychological, and social complications. Among the methods suggested for taking care of chronic diseases is caregiver contribution to self-care. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between caregiver contributions to self-care and quality of life in HF patients hospitalized in Ardabil hospitals in Ardebil-Iran. Methods: This correlational study was conducted on 280 HF patients and their caregivers in Ardabil hospitals, Iran. Data collection tools were a demographic information questionnaire (Patient and caregiver), Caregiver Contributions to Self-Care of Heart Failure Index2 (CC-SCHFI 2), and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ). The data were analyzed by SPSS (Version 26) software using descriptive (mean, standard deviation, and frequency) and analytical statistics (t-test, F-test, and linear regression analysis). The significance level was considered to be 0.05. Results: The respondents reported favorable caregiver contribution to self-care of HF patients (90.38 ± 34.15). The majority (56.1 %) of patients had an unfavorable quality of life. Further, there was a positive and weak correlation between caregiver contribution to self-care and patients’ quality of life (p < 0.01, r = 0.02). The regression analysis showed that the Caregiver contributions to self-care management, gender, caregiver’s marital status, and co-residence of the caregiver and the patient had the greatest impact on the HF patients’ quality of life (p < 0.05). Conclusion: There was a significant relationship between caregiver contribution to self-care and the HF patients’ quality of life. Caregiver contributions to self-care management, gender, caregiver’s marital status, and co-residence of the caregiver and the patient had the greatest impact on the HF patients’ quality of life. Therefore, to improve the caregiver contributions to self-care and quality of life of these patients, it is better to use married female caregivers who live together with the patient