Mutuality and heart failure self-care in patients and their informal caregivers.
Stephanie A Hooker, Sarah J Schmiege, Ranak B Trivedi and 2 others
PMID 28868917WHAT IT FOUND
In heart failure pairs, patients who felt more mutual support were more confident in self-care, and confidence was linked to their own self-care behaviors.
Caregivers who felt more mutual support were more confident in helping, but neither person's view was linked to the other.
Key findings
01Patients who reported better mutuality were more confident in their self-care, and that confidence was associated with more self-care maintenance behaviors.
02Caregivers who reported better mutuality were more confident in patient self-care, but caregiver confidence was not associated with caregiver contributions to self-care maintenance.
03No partner paths were significant, and caregiver burden did not significantly mediate the association between caregiver mutuality and caregiver confidence.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that mutuality or confidence causes self-care behaviors. Self-care, mutuality, and burden were self-reported rather than objectively measured. The final sample was 99 dyads from a trial that enrolled 314 patients, and many caregivers not present at enrollment did not participate, so the dyads may not represent all patients with caregivers. Caregivers who completed surveys at home may have talked with patients, so responses may not have been independent. The sample was mostly male patients and female caregivers, predominantly Caucasian, well educated, and younger than some heart failure populations. The analysis had power for medium and large effects but not small effects, including possible partner effects.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. The supplied publication metadata lists NIH and U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that improving caregiver confidence or relationship quality will improve patient self-care behaviors. The study is cross-sectional and self-reported, and it found no significant partner effects or mediation by caregiver burden.