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Contributions Of Supportive Relationships To Heart Failure Self-Care, Margaret Sebern, Barbara Riegel

Margaret Sebern

Supportive relationships are known to improve outcomes for persons with heart failure (HF). Supporters may do so by improving self-care, but little is known about the influence of supportive relationships on HF self-care.

The purpose of this study was to explore background characteristics associated with supportive relationships, and the contribution of supportive relationships to HF self-care. The construct of shared care was used to operationalize supportive relationships. Shared care refers to a system of interpersonal processes (communication, decision making, and reciprocity) used in close relationships to exchange support. A cross sectional design was employed recruiting 75 HF dyads.

Older patients …

Systematic Review And Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis Of Diagnosis Of Heart Failure, With Modelling Of Implications Of Different Diagnostic Strategies In Primary Care, J. Mant, J. Doust, A. Roalfe, P. Barton, M. Cowie, P. Glasziou, D. Mant, R. Mcmanus, R. Holder, J. Deeks, K. Fletcher, M. Qume, S. Sohanpal, S. Sanders, F. Hobbs

Jenny Doust

Objectives: To assess the accuracy in diagnosing heart failure of clinical features and potential primary care investigations, and to perform a decision analysis to test the impact of plausible diagnostic strategies on costs and diagnostic yield in the UK health-care setting. Data sources: MEDLINE and CINAHL were searched from inception to 7 July 2006. ‘Grey literature’ databases and conference proceedings were searched and authors of relevant studies contacted for data that could not be extracted from the published papers. Review methods: A systematic review of the clinical evidence was carried out according to standard methods. Individual patient data (IPD) analysis …