Objective  To cluster the symptoms of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) through the cluster analysis, and to explore the relationships among symptom clusters of CHF, patients’ self-care behaviors and sleep quality, as well as the pathways influencing sleep quality of CHF patients. Methods  A convenience sampling approach was used to provide a questionnaire survey to CHF patients who were being followed up with between January and December 2021. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-Heart Failure, European Heart Failure Self- care Behavior Scale and a self-created questionnaire on sociodemographic and clinical data characteristics were all included in the survey. Results  A total of 304 CHF patients were included. Among them, there were 178 males and 126 females; the average age was (61.31±14.00) years; the average sleep quality score was (8.17±4.51) points, while the average overall self-care behavior score was (21.28±3.80) points. According to the cluster analysis of the symptoms of CHF patients, the patients’ symptoms were separated into clusters related to exhaustion, disease perception, and a single symptom of dry mouth. The sleep quality score was positively correlated with the following factors: age, number of comorbidities, overall score of symptom assessment, fatigue symptom cluster score, and illness perception symptom cluster score (P<0.05). There was no significant correlation between the self-care behavior score and sleep quality (P>0.05). However, sleep quality scores were negatively correlated with body mass index and education level, respectively (P<0.05). Age, gender, score of illness perception symptom cluster, and fatigue symptom cluster all had direct effects on sleep quality of 0.014, 0.206, 0.487, and 0.165 (P<0.05), respectively, according to path analysis. Self-care behavior also had a direct influence of 0.018 (P=0.686). Conclusions  CHF patients have somewhat high levels of self-care behaviors, but they have poor sleep quality. They still have a lot of symptoms after being released. Sleep quality is significantly impacted by the patients’ age, body mass index, educational attainment, number of comorbidities, symptom ratings, fatigue symptom clusters, and disease perception symptom clusters. While the route effects of the patients’ self-care actions are not statistically significant, the age, gender, disease perception, and fatigue symptom cluster scores of CHF patients have a direct impact on the quality of their sleep. By managing the same clusters of symptoms, nursing staff can help patients with CHF feel better. They can also help patients sleep better by adopting practical measures.

Citation： LONG Liyuan, LI Yinyin, FANG Jinbo. Influencing factors of sleep quality in patients with chronic heart failure: a study based on path analysis. West China Medical Journal, 2025, 40(5): 761-769. doi: 10.7507/1002-0179.202312103 Copy

Copyright ? the editorial department of West China Medical Journal of West China Medical Publisher. All rights reserved