Abstract: Objective: To explore the effects of improving the home-based symptoms self-monitoring ability in elderly patients with Heart Failure (HF) through optimizing the health education programs based on symptoms management theory, aiming to provide reference for home-care of such patients. Methods: Totally 115 elderly patients with HF admitted to the cardiology department of a tertiary grade A hospital in Jiangsu province from April to September 2023 were recruited as the research participants. The patients were randomly divided into an observation group (n=58) and a control group (n=57) using a random number table method. The control group received routine health education, while the observation group implemented an intervention plan based on symptoms management theory to optimize the health education programs on the basis of routine health education. The mastery of physical perception and self-monitoring symptoms of HF was compared between two groups of patients at three time points: relief of acute HF symptoms, discharge, and 3 months after discharge. The readmission of two groups of patients due to acute HF was followed up for 3 months after discharge. Results: The two groups of patients showed comparability in various indicators after the relief of acute HF symptoms. The mastery of self-monitoring symptoms content in the observation group before discharge was better than that in the control group (P<0.05). The physical perception and self-monitoring symptoms and readmission rate of HF in the observation group after 3 months of discharge were significantly better than those in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Implementing forward discharge guidance and optimizing the health education programs based on symptoms management theory can help improve the home-based symptoms self-monitoring ability in elderly patients with HF and reduce the recurrence rate of acute HF.

Key words: elderly; heart failure; symptoms management theory; health education; symptoms; home; self-monitoring