Background:
Adequate self-care abilities, such as early recognition of and appropriate responses to worsening heart failure (HF) symptoms, are important to prevent further deterioration and avoid unnecessary hospitalization. Patients with HF have difficulty recognizing and responding to worsening symptoms promptly and this problem seems to be worse in older compared to younger patients.
Objective:
The aims of this study were (1) to compare perceptions, evaluations, and responses to worsening HF symptoms before a hospital admission between older and younger patients, and (2) to compare older and younger patients’ responses when they perceived higher symptom distress.
Methods:
Data on patients’ perceptions, evaluations, and responses to worsening HF symptoms were collected using HF Somatic Awareness Scale and Modified Response to Symptoms Questionnaire from 185 patients hospitalized with HF (mean age 62 ± 13 years; 51% male; 66% New York Heart Association class III/IV). We compared data between younger and older patients using a cutoff at age 65. Independent
t
-test, chi-square, and two-way ANOVA were performed.
Results:
Compared with younger patients, older patients were more likely to attribute their symptoms to aging (
p
= 0.003) and to have lower somatic awareness (
p
= 0.014); however, there were no significant differences between older and younger patients in their responses to worsening HF symptoms. In response to higher perceived symptom distress, regardless of age grouping, patients at first did nothing and hoped their symptoms would go away (
p
= 0.004), ignored symptoms and continued doing what was doing (
p
= 0.002), or laid down and tried to relax (
p
< 0.001). No other strategies such as self-medicated, contacted doctors, and went to hospital were significantly associated with higher symptom distress.
Conclusions:
Regardless of age, patients with HF do not respond appropriately to worsening HF symptoms. Older patients have lower somatic awareness, which may partially explain their lack of appropriate response, but younger patients with better somatic awareness do not respond any more appropriately. Interventions should be tested that target better symptom appraisal and promote appropriate symptom responses in patients with HF across all ages.