Contribution of Informal Caregivers in the Self-Care of Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Background: Cardiovascular illnesses are the major cause of mortality globally, with coronary artery problems being very frequent. Family involvement in patient treatment and self-care is pivotal for enhancing the quality of therapeutic outcomes. While a lack of knowledge about self-care methods among patients and their families can lead to negative outcomes and repeated hospitalizations, learning self-care techniques improves patient comfort, functional abilities, and the course of the disease. Given that professional caregivers are not eternally accessible, the participation of family and friends in patient care acquires enormous importance. This study aims to investigate the status of informal caregivers' engagement in the self-care of patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease. Methods: In 2024, this descriptive cross-sectional research was conducted in Zanjan's Mousavi Hospital. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 250 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of coronary artery disease who were admitted to the cardiology ward or Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) and their informal caregivers. Vellone's Caregiver Contribution to Self-Care of Coronary Heart Disease Index (CC-SC-CHDI v3a) served as the main tool for gathering data. IBM SPSS Statistics version 27 was used to analyze the data. It included descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentage), independent t-tests, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality, one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and linear regression analysis. Results: In the self-care maintenance domain, informal caregivers' mean involvement score was 71.63±14.48. The mean participation score was 50.68±23.59 in the self-care management area and 51.88±19.75 in the self-care monitoring domain. The self-care maintenance domain showed the highest level of caregiver engagement. There were statistically significant correlations (P<0.05) between caregiver engagement levels and a number of patient-related demographic characteristics. Patients' gender (P=0.007), age (P=0.003), number of children (P=0.016), income level (P=0.007), residency (P=0.001), supplemental insurance coverage (P=0.001), educational attainment (P=0.001), and cardiac ejection fraction (P=0.036) were among them. Additionally, a strong correlation was seen between patient education obtained via online platforms (P=0.014). engagement in the self-care maintenance domain was substantially correlated with the caregiver's educational attainment (P=0.004), with higher engagement observed among caregivers with bachelor's and graduate degrees. Conclusion: According to the self-care maintenance domain, patients with coronary heart disease benefit from the involvement of informal caregivers in their self-care. Participation in symptom monitoring and acute clinical situation management tasks, on the other hand, was found to be moderate or somewhat weaker. Additionally, the observed degree of caregiver engagement was shown to be significantly correlated with several demographic characteristics, including location of residence, income, gender, education, and cohabitation with the patient.