The Role of Nurse Social Support in Hospital Readmission in Patients With Heart Failure: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Hospitalizations and hospital readmissions account for 75%-80% of the economic burden related to heart failure (HF). This study aims to determine the relationship between perceived social support from nurses and hospital readmission rates in HF patients and to identify potential factors associated with hospital readmission, including sociodemographic and clinical variables, perceived social support, and country.

METHOD: We recruited 380 HF patients from two countries (Iceland 92 and Iran 288) from October 2018 to May 2020. We used the social support scale of the Family Functioning, Health, and Social Support (FAFHES) questionnaire for data collection. The hospital readmission rates were collected from patients' hospital records. We performed a general linear model (GLM) to explore the significant factors associated with readmission.

RESULTS: A total of 125 (33%) patients were readmitted within 6 months. Among them, 17% were readmitted once, 15% were readmitted twice, and 1% were readmitted three times. The strongest factor associated with the hospital readmission rate was perceived social support. Other significant factors included unemployment, age, and country of residence.

CONCLUSION: This study underlines the important role of perceived social support in hospital readmission among HF patients. Our findings may be useful for better tailoring social support for HF patients to reduce hospital readmission. Moreover, it is recommended to investigate the effects of system-related factors, such as the strategy of healthcare systems in managing HF, on hospital readmissions.