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Abstract Background A patient’s knowledge of heart failure (HF) is associated with better outcomes. The more information patients have about their illness, the less likely they are to be readmitted to the hospital. Such knowledge includes the cause, symptoms, probable duration, and expected evolution of the clinical picture. In Portugal, a tool for testing patient knowledge is an unmet need. Therefore, this study aimed to adapt and test the Chronic Heart Failure Knowledge Questionnaire (KQCHF) for the Portuguese context. Methods This work includes three cross-sectional studies. In Study 1, subjects were divided between before and after receiving information about HF. In Study 2, participants answered the questionnaire before and after reading the brochure. In Study 3, KQCHF was applied to patients with HF. Studies 1 and 2 were carried out in the general population. Study 3 was carried out with HF outpatients. Convenience sampling was applied to participants in the three studies. Results In Study 1 (n = 45), those who received information had better scores (9.2 ± 1.9) than those who did not (6.0 ± 2.3). In Study 2 (n = 21), the scores were higher after reading the brochure (10.4 ± 1.7 vs. 6.5 ± 2.9). In Study 3 (n = 169), women had better scores than men (9.1 ± 2.1 vs. 8.3 ± 2.2, overall: 8.5 ± 2.2), and knowledge was correlated with education (r = .340, p

Background: A patient's knowledge of heart failure (HF) is associated with better outcomes. The more information patients have about their illness, the less likely they are to be readmitted to the hospital. Such knowledge includes the cause, symptoms, probable duration, and expected evolution of the clinical picture. In Portugal, a tool for testing patient knowledge is an unmet need. Therefore, this study aimed to adapt and test the Chronic Heart Failure Knowledge Questionnaire (KQCHF) for the Portuguese context. Methods: This work includes three cross-sectional studies. In Study 1, subjects were divided between before and after receiving information about HF. In Study 2, participants answered the questionnaire before and after reading the brochure. In Study 3, KQCHF was applied to patients with HF. Studies 1 and 2 were carried out in the general population. Study 3 was carried out with HF outpatients. Convenience sampling was applied to participants in the three studies. Results: In Study 1 (n = 45), those who received information had better scores (9.2 ± 1.9) than those who did not (6.0 ± 2.3). In Study 2 (n = 21), the scores were higher after reading the brochure (10.4 ± 1.7 vs. 6.5 ± 2.9). In Study 3 (n = 169), women had better scores than men (9.1 ± 2.1 vs. 8.3 ± 2.2, overall: 8.5 ± 2.2), and knowledge was correlated with education (r =.340, p <.001) and age (r = -.170, p =.030). Conclusion: The Portuguese adaptation of KQCHF captured relevant knowledge about HF and has shown promising results for clinical and research purposes. The questionnaire can be useful in assessing HF patients' knowledge of their disease and as a basis for the implementation of general and personalised educational strategies to improve HF knowledge and, therefore, promote health literacy and self-care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients' adherence to peroral tyrosine kinase inhibitors in Finland and to compare this with adherence as estimated by their physicians. Other aspects studied included how patients' knowledge of the disease and its treatment influence adherence. Materials and methods: A total of 120 CML patients were contacted between June 2012 and September 2013 in eight secondary or tertiary care hospitals in Finland. Of these, 86 participated in the study. This covers approximately 20% of all Finnish CML patients. The mean age was 57.8 years and 52% were male. Of the patients, 79.1% were using imatinib, 10.5% dasatinib, and 10.5% nilotinib. The patient-reported adherence (experienced adherence) was evaluated using the eight-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS). In addition, the treating physicians were asked to give their subjective opinion on their patients' adherence (observed adherence). The experienced adherence was compared with the observed adherence using a three-level rating system (high, medium, low). All patients were personally interviewed and their demographic data collected. The statistical analysis of the data was based on descriptive statistics presented as frequencies, percentages, means, and medians. The kappa coefficient was calculated between the patient's and the doctor's assessment of adherence. Results: A total of 23% (20/86) of the patients were fully adherent according to the MMAS, while physicians evaluated 94% (80/86) of the patients as fully adherent. The physicians' estimate was too optimistic in 73% of cases. The discrepancy was confirmed by a kappa value of -0.004. The patients' knowledge of the disease and its treatment was poor in all adherence levels. Conclusion: The patient-reported adherence to tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatments in Finland was found to be the same as that found in the majority of previous studies. However, there seems to be a very weak agreement between the patient's and the physician's assessment of adherence. This study suggests that physicians overestimate the adherence of CML patients and base their assessment primarily on the clinical treatment response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the effects of family-to-family support programs provided for the families of schizophrenic patients on the need for information about the illness, family burden and self-efficacy Method: The study was carried out with 34 relatives who have key roles in the lives of 34 outpatients who were diagnosed with schizophrenia under DSM-IV-TR. A volunteering family member was given training about the purpose, contents and planning of the program. The family member who had been trained then extended this training to other family members with the assistance of the psychiatric nurse. The training was done once a week, for a total of 12 sessions. The data were collected using a Disease Information Form (DIF), the Perceived Family Burden Scale (PFBS) and the Self-Efficacy Scale (SES). Results: There was a significant decrease in the PFBS objective scores (from 11.76±3.89 to 9.82±4.03, p=0.000), subjective scores (from 37.85±14.57 to 32.74±4.39, p=0.030) and total scores (from 49.62±18.25 to 42.56±7.56, p=0.005) and a significant increase in the SESS scores (from 82.65±12.01 to 97.79±7.17, p=0.000). Before training, 58.8% of family members correctly answered that schizophrenia is a brain disease, while 94.1% correctly stated that, it must be treated with medication; however, 55.9% of caregivers incorrectly believed in magical attributions relating to the disease. After training, all caregivers were able to answer correctly. Conclusion: A family-to-family support program was found to be effective in reducing caregivers' need for information, reducing their burden, and increasing their self-efficacy in our country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The aim of this work was to characterize the knowledge that patients have of their disease. A special questionnaire was distributed (in 1998) to 33 patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease who underwent carotid endarterectomy (CEA) in 1995–1996. The results show that the knowledge of patients is fragmentary, hermetic, and static, at the same time serving as their basic perceptive–cognitive filter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]