- Design
- Parallel-group randomised controlled trial, unblinded
- Population
- 63 adults aged 40–75 with NYHA I–III heart failure, EF >30%, Türkiye
- Primary outcome
- Self-care behaviour at 12 weeks
- Effect
- Self-care, quality of life, self-efficacy and 6-minute walk all favoured intervention
A small randomised trial in Türkiye allocated 63 adults aged 40 to 75 with NYHA class I–III heart failure and ejection fraction above 30%, who could not attend centre-based rehabilitation, to a 12-week nurse-led programme of home visits and telephone follow-up, or usual care.
At 12 weeks, self-care scores, quality of life, self-efficacy and six-minute walk distance favoured the programme, and NYHA class improved. The trial was small, short and unblinded, and its reported self-care scores need care in interpretation because the scale direction is not clear from the summary.
The point for primary care is the model: structured home follow-up by a nurse can fill the gap where cardiac rehabilitation is not available, as is common outside Indian cities.
- Consider structured nurse or health worker follow-up at home for patients unable to reach cardiac rehabilitation.
- Teach daily weight monitoring and what weight gain should prompt a call.
- Review diuretic adjustment, fluid and salt advice at each contact.
- Use telephone contact between visits to catch early decompensation.
Why it matters
It offers a practical model for the many patients who never reach a rehabilitation centre.
Don't overread it
With 63 patients and 12 weeks of follow-up, it shows better self-care scores, not fewer admissions or deaths.
The statistics, in plain English
Differences in self-care and walk distance favoured the programme, but small trials can show large effects that shrink in larger ones; hard outcomes were not measured.
Read the rest in the app
You have read your two free briefings this month. The app carries all 27 specialties, every morning, free — and this finding is waiting in it.
Scan to keep reading on your phone. No account needed to start.
Tomorrow morning, before your first patient
One edition a day for family medicine, written by the desk, every claim tied to its paper. Six minutes.
Get the app — free