The Effectiveness of Self-Management Strategies in Patients With Heart Failure: A Narrative Review

Heart failure (HF) is a common condition with high morbidity and mortality. Self-management strategies for heart failure can be effective in improving patients' quality of life and reducing mortality and hospitalization for heart failure. These self-management strategies are also cost-effective. A complex interplay between various factors related to patients, therapy, healthcare, and socioeconomic factors influences the effectiveness of self-management strategies. The primary aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of self-management strategies in patients with heart failure in reducing mortality, hospitalization for heart failure, and healthcare cost savings at six months and one year. The secondary aim is to determine adherence to self-management strategies in patients with HF. The current study is a narrative review of studies evaluating the effectiveness of self-management strategies in heart failure. A literature search was done in PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and the Cochrane Library for studies published in the English language between 2012 and 2022. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the characteristics of studies and interventions. We calculated odds ratios, risk ratios, or mean differences to calculate the effect of self-management strategies on mortality, hospitalization for HF, and healthcare costs between patient groups. We included a total of 30 studies in our narrative review: eight cross-sectional studies and 22 randomized controlled trials. These studies showed a significant effect of self-management strategies on mortality at six- and 12-month follow-ups. Studies on the effectiveness of self-management strategies on hospitalization for heart failure showed benefits at six and 12 months. Self-management strategies are cost-effective and feasible with improved disability-adjusted life years (DALY). One study showed higher costs associated with self-management strategies and only a slight decrease in DALY. Overall, adherence to self-management strategies was inadequate in these studies. Novel and innovative self-management interventions improve therapy adherence. There was a lack of uniformity in using tools to assess self-management across studies. There was a lack of ethnic diversity in the individual studies, limiting the generalization of these studies' findings. Our review showed that self-management strategies are beneficial for heart failure-related hospitalization, reduce mortality and hospitalization for heart failure, and are cost-effective. The use of innovative approaches like smartphone applications improves adherence.