The Relationship between Health Locus of Control and Self-Efficacy in Patients with Heart Failure

Background: Self-efficacy and the health locus of control (HLC) are the most important determinants of compliance with self-care behaviors in patients with heart failure (HF). However, there is still a lack of studies in this area. Objective: This study aimed at investigating the relationship between HLC and self-efficacy in patients with HF. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 170 patients with HF in 2019 in Urmia, Iran. The participants were enrolled by using a consecutive sampling method. Data collection was conducted by using a demographic questionnaire, the questionnaire for assessing the Strategies Used by People to Promote Health (SUPPH), and the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) Scale. Descriptive statistics, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and stepwise linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: The mean age of the participaants was 67.47 ± 11.27 years. The majority of participants were male (59.8%) and married (76.8%). Among the components of the MHLC, the internal and powerful others obtained the highest mean scores (28.52 ± 5.97 vs. 26.6 ± 4.01). On average, the patients possessed about half of the self-efficacy scores. The internal HLC (IHLC) only had a direct correlation with the overall score of self-efficacy (r=0.24, P = 0.03), and the powerful others HLC (PHLC) was directly correlated with a positive attitude (r=0.39, P = 0.001) and the overall score of self-efficacy (r=0.32, P = 0.004). In regression analysis, only the scores of IHLC and PHLC were associated with the self-efficacy scores. Conclusion: Patients’ self-efficacy improves as the mean scores of the IHLC and PHLC increase.