LAUSR

AIMS Even though self-care is essential in the long-term management of Heart failure (HF), it is often not performed adequately in HF populations. Mobilizing informal caregivers may be one way to help patients perform self-care, support individual needs and maintain health. However, informal caregivers often face insufficient preparation for providing long-term care. This insufficient caregiver preparedness may lead to a decline in caregiver contributions and affect the outcomes of care in patients with HF. This study aimed to explore whether informal caregiver's preparedness is a predictor which influences short-term outcomes of HF patients; to analyze whether caregiver contribution to self-care of HF (CC-SCHF) plays a mediating role between informal caregiver's preparedness and HF short-term outcomes. METHODS AND RESULTS A prospective observational study was conducted in China. After controlling for covariates, higher levels of informal caregiver's preparedness was significantly associated with lower 3-month mortality[OR = 0.919, 95% CI = (0.855, 0.988), P = 0.022] and 3-month readmission rate [OR = 0.883, 95% CI = (0.811,0.961), P＜0.004] and shorter length of hospital stay (β=-0.071, P < 0.001). The informal caregiver's preparedness was positively associated with CC-SCHF-maintenance (r = 0.708, p < 0.01), CC-SCHF-management (r = 0.431, p < 0.01), and CC-SCHF-confidence (r = 0.671, p < 0.01). The CC-SCHF-management was a mediator in the relationship between informal caregiver's preparedness and 3-month readmission rate [effect 95% CI = (-0.054, -0.001)] and length of hospital stay [effect 95% CI = (-0.235, -0.042)]. CONCLUSION Higher level of informal caregiver's preparedness is associated with better short-term outcomes of HF patients with insufficient self-care.