Kathy Dracup

UCSF University of California, San Francisco | UCSF · Department of Physiological Nursing

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of fatigue and identify its demographic, clinical, and psychological correlates in 150 heart failure (HF) patients (73% men, 66% Caucasian, mean age 55.0 years, mean ejection fraction 26.7%±11%), from a single HF center, using the Profile of Mood States-Fatigue Subscale, the Minnesota Living With...

The time that elapses from the onset of symptoms of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to treatment has a significant effect on mortality and morbidity. This study reports the effectiveness of an education and counselling intervention on knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about AMI symptoms and the appropriate response to symptoms. The intervention wa...

Improvement of self-care behaviour is an aim of several non-pharmacological nurse-led management programmes for patients with heart failure. These programmes are often evaluated based on their effects on readmission, costs and quality of life. It is, however, also important to know how patients changed their self-care behaviour as a result of such...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe the socio-demographic, psychosocial, and social support variables that predict compliance to treatment regimens in HF patients, DESIGN AND SETTING: Semistructured interviews were conducted on 82 patients at ail outpatient heart failure clinic to cather data related to compliance behaviors. Five s...

Heart failure is estimated to affect 4 to 5 million Americans, with 550 000 new cases reported annually.1 In the past 3 decades, both the incidence and prevalence of heart failure have increased.1 2 3 Factors that have contributed to this increase are the aging US population and improved survival rates in patients with cardiovascular disease due to...

The goal of this study was to determine the effects of a supportive educational nursing intervention on self-care abilities, self-care behavior, and quality of life of patients with advanced heart failure. The study design was an experimental, random assignment. The study was located at the University Hospital in Maastricht, The Netherlands. The st...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of low ejection fraction on sexual function and the relation between alterations in sexual function and pertinent clinical, demographic, and psychosocial variables in patients with advanced heart failure. DESIGN: This study was descriptive and correlational in design. SETTING: The setting was an outpatient clinic...

To get insight into the quality of life of a clinical practice sample of patients with heart failure that are admitted to the hospital. Secondly to determine differences between patients with systolic and diastolic dysfunction and finally to describe factors relating to quality of life. Three dimensions of quality of life (functional capabilities,...

To test the effect of education and support by a nurse on self-care and resource utilization in patients with heart failure. A total of 179 patients (mean age 73, 58% male, NYHA III-IV) hospitalized with heart failure were evaluated prospectively. Patients were randomized to the study intervention or to 'care as usual'. The supportive educative int...

The purpose of this study was to determine psychological consequences of teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to family members of patients at risk for sudden death. Patient-family pairs (n = 337) were randomized into one of four groups: control, CPR only, CPR with cardiac risk factor education, and CPR with a social support intervention. O...

Physicians and other health care professionals play an important role in reducing the delay to treatment in patients who have an evolving acute myocardial infarction. A multidisciplinary working group has been convened by the National Heart Attack Alert Program (which is coordinated by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National I...

To examine delay in seeking treatment among patients with an evolving acute myocardial infarction (MI), and to identify factors which contributed to this delay. Patient interview combined with medical record review. 317 patients with confirmed diagnosis of acute MI interviewed within 72 hours of admission to three hospitals. Delay from onset of sym...

Advanced heart failure is characterized by activation of the sympathetic nervous system and intense vasoconstriction. Biofeedback-relaxation techniques have been used successfully to treat conditions with similar pathophysiological features. The purpose of this study was to determine if conscious control of skin temperature via a biofeedback-relaxa...

To err is human, so they say, but potentially lethal in industry. The author looks at the real causes of human error and how they can be minimised

The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) and Rand Corporation convened a panel of experts to review published studies on care of the patient with heart failure. The outcome was the Clinical Practice Guideline for the evaluation and care of patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction, published in June 1994. This article review...

This article reviews the role of counseling, education, dietary modifications, and exercise for patients with heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction. We reviewed studies published in English between 1966 and 1993 and referenced in MEDLINE or EMBASE. We used the search terms heart failure, congestive; congestive heart failure; he...

Patients experiencing chest pain (or other cardiac symptoms) in the community delay hours, even days, in seeking medical care. Given the potential effectiveness of thrombolytic therapy, it is important to determine patterns of patient delay. A descriptive study was conducted to determine the amount of time patients delayed in seeking medical care w...

The purpose of the study was to determine the attitudes toward cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training and subsequent CPR use of 172 CPR-trained family members of cardiac patients. The majority (88.9%) reported positive attitudes. Only 14 (8.1%) reported feeling too responsible for their family member. One hundred and forty-one (81.9%) said th...

Heart failure has been associated with poor quality of life, which can improve after heart transplantation. Long-term quality-of-life comparisons between patients with heart failure stabilized with medical therapy and heart transplant recipients have not been performed. We assessed quality of life at the time of heart transplantation evaluation and...

Delay in seeking treatment for the symptoms of myocardial infarction can contribute to significant mortality and morbidity. Although pre-hospital delay is a serious problem in both women and men, women appear to delay substantially longer than men. Possible reasons for longer delay in women include the age at which women experience first myocardial...