Opvolgen van leefregels bij hartfalen

According to a recent study on adherence to lifestyle recommendations of patients with heart failure, adherence to diet and fluid restriction was preferable to daily weighing and exercise. The investigators used data from the Coordinating study evaluating Outcomes of Advising and Counselling in Heart failure (COACH). Adherence to lifestyle seems better when the patient can remain ‘passive’ rather than being ‘active’, such as engaging in physical exercise and daily weighing. Of course it is important to note that exercising with a chronic progressive disease as heart failure is difficult. Adherence is of major importance, and in itself results in a reduction in mortality. Character, psychological issues, information provided by the healthcare worker, dosing schemes, and comorbidities all play a role in adherence. Clever use of telemonitoring could be useful in patient-tailored coaching when comorbidities, drug interactions, and the frequent exacerbations of heart failure are taken into account.

Conflict of interest: none declared. Financial support: none declared.