Study Finds Link Between Sleep Quality and Self-Care in Heart Failure Patients

Researchers utilized the Hippocratic Heart Failure Self-Care Scale to assess self-care behaviors and the Sleep Quality Scale for Coronary Care Patients to measure sleep quality. They identified a moderate negative correlation between sleep quality and self-care; specifically, higher reported sleep quality was connected to poorer actual sleep, suggesting that worsening sleep quality correlates with diminished self-care performance.

In addition to sleep quality, various demographic and clinical factors influenced self-care behaviors. The study revealed that older age and longer nightly sleep duration positively affected self-care, while a higher body mass index had a negative correlation. Patients with greater educational attainment performed better in self-care, and non-smokers exhibited superior self-care compared to smokers.

The severity of heart failure also played a role in self-care outcomes, with those in more advanced stages showing significantly lower self-care scores than patients in earlier stages. Furthermore, regular physical activity was another positive factor; patients who exercised more frequently reported enhanced self-care scores.

Hierarchical regression analysis showcased that demographic and clinical variables alone accounted for 42.0% of the variance in self-care scores. However, when sleep quality was included, it added an additional 10.1%, raising the total explanatory power to 52.1%. Despite these findings, the authors noted the cross-sectional nature of the study limits causal conclusions. They suggested that improving sleep quality could be a modifiable factor in managing heart failure, warranting further interventional research to explore whether enhancements in sleep quality can lead to better self-care behaviors and overall disease management.

For reference, this study was conducted by Valizadeh L et al. and published in Sci Rep in 2026 (DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-72331-2).