Results of the education of patients with heart failure in the field of pro-health behaviors

Background. Cardiovascular diseases rank first on the list of causes of death, both in Poland and in the world. The aim of the study was to check whether the education in the field of pro-health behaviors, with particular emphasis on physical activity, conducted among patients with heart failure has a positive effect on changing their lifestyle. Material and methods. The study involved 78 (100%) patients hospitalized due to heart failure decompensation (NYHA III-IV), who underwent education in the field of pro-health behaviors. It used original questionnaires to conduct the study, consisting of questions of comparable content regarding the discussed topic and the general characteristics of the respondents. Results. Almost 60% of the surveyed patients claimed that their pro-health behaviors had improved. Smoking was declared by about 1/3 of the respondents (25; 32.05%) at the stage of decompensation, and only about 9% (7; 8.97%) in the long-term follow-up (Chi2=12.738; p=0.0004). Sadly, after education almost 3/4 of patients (58; 74.36%) did not perform physical exercises. Conclusions. Even though, education of patients with heart failure was associated with increased implementation of pro-health behaviors, there is still a need for systematic education of patients in terms of the benefits of changing their lifestyle to a healthy lifestyle.