Patients with heart failure and their spouses’ experiences of heart failure symptom: a dyadic qualitative study

Background Heart failure symptoms severely diminish the quality of life of patients, and the importance of symptom management has been widely recognized. However, patients still face significant pressure in managing symptoms. Family members are considered to be an important resource for symptom management and the need for understanding the dyadic experiences in symptom management is highlighted. Methods Based on face-to-face and semi-structured interviews, a dyadic descriptive phenomenological research design was employed. Patients with heart failure who met the inclusion criteria and their spouses were invited to participate in interviews, and the data were analyzed using framework analysis. Results A total of 17 dyads participated in the study. Based on the framework analysis approach, four themes and nine subthemes were developed: (1) being haunted by symptoms (2) diverse ways of coping with symptoms (3)both decreased and strengthened family wellbeing. Conclusions This study explores the symptom experiences of heart failure patients and their spouses, highlighting that medical staff should offer practical resources and support to heart failure family, accurately identify the distinct attitudes within the family in coping with symptoms, and facilitate family communication to enhance family closeness, thereby improving family health. It also emphasizes that more research is needed to focus on the positive experiences of heart failure symptoms. Clinical trial number Not applicable