Resumo

ARREDONDO HOLGUIN, EDITH. Behaviors and self-care agency capacity of adults with heart failure. av.enferm. [online]. 2010, vol.28, n.1, pp.21-30. ISSN 0121-4500.

The objective of this study is to describe behaviors and self-care agency capacity of patients with heart failure in a cardiovascular clinic in Medellín (Province of Antioquia) between November 2007 and May 2008. It is a descriptive study with a quantitative approach. The sample was taken among 206 adults with heart failure who were diagnosed through clinical symptomatology, ejection fraction under or equal to 40%. Collection of data was done using the Self-care Agency Capacity Scale developed by Isemberg and Evers et al. (1993) and translated by Gallego, which measures the self-care agency, and the Self-care behaviors scale validated in Colombia in 2007 by Arredondo, which measures the frequency of self-care behaviors of adults with heart failure when requesting help, adjusting to a life with the illness and therapeutic regime, modifying self-esteem and acceptance of oneself,  living with the effects of heart failure and the related treatment. It concludes that the majority of patients were males; that basic conditioning factors such as family support, work performance, affiliation to health system, socio-economic level and education level access were important for the patients. The self-care behavior frequency was average in adults in the majority of the dimensions and the level of agency was high to very high. Similarly, it was concluded that there is no correlation between agency and self-care behavior, which states that adults have the knowledge but have not made the decision of conducting self-care actions.

Palavras-chave : heart failure; self care; adult; nursing.

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