Factors Influencing Healthcare-Seeking Decisions Delay During Acute Exacerbations in Elderly Patients with Chronic Heart Failure: An Analysis Based on a Cross-Sectional Study

Factors Influencing Healthcare-Seeking Decisions Delay During Acute Exacerbations in Elderly Patients with Chronic Heart Failure: An Analysis Based on a Cross-Sectional Study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Factors Influencing Healthcare-Seeking Decisions Delay During Acute Exacerbations in Elderly Patients with Chronic Heart Failure: An Analysis Based on a Cross-Sectional Study Bei-Bei Wang, Si-Yi Wang, Si-Xuan Han, Xiao-Bin Yang, Qi-Di Liu, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5114634/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: Elderly patients with chronic heart failure often experience significant delays in making healthcare-seeking decisions from the onset of symptom acute exacerbations to the final decision to seek medical care. Guided by the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study investigates the duration and factors influencing delayed healthcare-seeking decisions following symptom acute exacerbations in elderly patients with chronic heart failure. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2023 to June 2024, involving 244 elderly patients with chronic heart failure hospitalized in two general hospitals in Nanjing, China. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey. The distributed questionnaire included a General Information Questionnaire for Heart Failure Patients, the Chinese version of the Heart Failure Somatic Perception Scale, the Chinese version of the Perceived Barriers to Care Seeking Scale, the Symptom Management Self-Efficacy Scale, the Chinese version of the Social Support Rating Scale, and the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire. Results: The results showed that the healthcare-seeking decisions time among the 244 patients ranged from 2 hours to 4410 hours, with a median time of 187.5 hours (7.8 days), Q1 of 82.0 hours, and Q3 of 504.5 hours. Regression analysis indicated that symptom management self-efficacy ( β = 0.637, P < 0.001), social support (β = -0.194, P < 0.001), the location of onset (β = -0.147, P < 0.001), heart failure somatic perception (β = -0.147, P = 0.002), the onset pattern (β = -0.121, P = 0.005), and attempts at self-management (β = 0.107, P = 0.023) were significantly associated with the delay in healthcare-seeking decisions. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that delayed healthcare-seeking decisions are common among elderly patients with chronic heart failure in China. The factors influencing this delay include symptom management self-efficacy, social support, location of onset, heart failure somatic perception, and onset pattern. These findings not only enhance our understanding of healthcare-seeking behavior in heart failure patients but also provide a scientific basis for developing more effective interventions. Heart failure Elderly patients Healthcare-seeking decision delay Social support Symptom management self-efficacy Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5114634","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":374803434,"identity":"f10358e3-6fb3-4778-b8aa-91d11e501a43","order_by":0,"name":"Bei-Bei Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Bei-Bei","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":374803452,"identity":"9f05c914-005f-42c8-82f0-b75783ee27c6","order_by":1,"name":"Si-Yi Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing University of Chinese 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self-efficacy","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5114634/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5114634/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eBackground: Elderly patients with chronic heart failure often experience significant delays in making healthcare-seeking decisions from the onset of symptom acute exacerbations to the final decision to seek medical care. Guided by the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study investigates the duration and factors influencing delayed healthcare-seeking decisions following symptom acute exacerbations in elderly patients with chronic heart failure.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMethods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2023 to June 2024, involving 244 elderly patients with chronic heart failure hospitalized in two general hospitals in Nanjing, China. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey. The distributed questionnaire included a General Information Questionnaire for Heart Failure Patients, the Chinese version of the Heart Failure Somatic Perception Scale, the Chinese version of the Perceived Barriers to Care Seeking Scale, the Symptom Management Self-Efficacy Scale, the Chinese version of the Social Support Rating Scale, and the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResults: The results showed that the healthcare-seeking decisions time among the 244 patients ranged from 2 hours to 4410 hours, with a median time of 187.5 hours (7.8 days), Q1 of 82.0 hours, and Q3 of 504.5 hours. Regression analysis indicated that symptom management self-efficacy ( β = 0.637, P \u0026lt; 0.001), social support (β = -0.194, P \u0026lt; 0.001), the location of onset (β = -0.147, P \u0026lt; 0.001), heart failure somatic perception (β = -0.147, P = 0.002), the onset pattern (β = -0.121, P = 0.005), and attempts at self-management (β = 0.107, P = 0.023) were significantly associated with the delay in healthcare-seeking decisions.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConclusion: This study demonstrates that delayed healthcare-seeking decisions are common among elderly patients with chronic heart failure in China. The factors influencing this delay include symptom management self-efficacy, social support, location of onset, heart failure somatic perception, and onset pattern. 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