Heart Failure Caregiver Self-Care: A Latent Class Analysis

Background: Little is known about heart failure (HF) caregiver self-care. Methods: This article reports a secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional, descriptive study involving 530 HF caregivers. A three-step latent class mixture model identified HF caregiver classes at risk for poor self-care and examined the relationship between the identified self-care classes and caregiver burden and depression. Caregivers completed online surveys on self-care, caregiver burden, depression, problem-solving, social support, and family function. Results: Caregivers were 41.39 (±10.38) years old, 78.3% Caucasian, and 50.9% men. Three classes of HF caregivers (24% Low-Risk, 24.9% Moderate-Risk, 51.1% High-Risk) were identified. High-Risk caregivers had the worst self-care and the lowest levels of social support, problem-solving, and family function. Moderate-Risk caregivers were the most experienced and had the best self-care yet had the most comorbidities. High-Risk caregivers reported more caregiver burden and depression. Conclusions: "At-risk" caregivers may benefit from self-care and support programs, but more research is needed.