Cognitively impaired patients with heart failure may not perceive weight gain as a risk for decompensation

Commentary on: Dolansky MA, Hawkins MA, Schaefer JT et al. Cognitive function predicts risk for clinically significant weight gain in adults with heart failure. J Cardiovasc Nurs 2016. doi: 10.1097/JCN.0000000000000376. [Epub ahead of print 2 Nov 2016].

Implications for practice and research

Healthcare practitioners should be aware that many patients with heart failure (HF) do not fully recognise the link between weight gain and HF decompensation.

Self-care confidence has been found to influence self-care behaviours (including daily weighing in HF) much more than cognition, so future studies should determine whether interventions focused on self-care confidence can also improve patients’ ability to manage weight gain.

Context

HF has a prevalence between 0.5% and 2% in the general population and is associated with poor quality of life, increased hospitalisations and high care costs.1 To counteract the impact of HF, patients need to perform self-care, including daily weighing, as recommended by international guidelines.1 Daily...

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