Rui Wu,1,2 Lu Chen,3 Yingjie Li,3 Huiwen Wang,3 Mengdie Liu,3 Yingxia Yao,3 Huiyan Chen,3 Dan Xiao4 

1Department of Cardiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Nursing, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Nursing, Nanchang University, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China; 4The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Dan Xiao, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China, Email 1529553352@qq.com

Context: Heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome associated with various symptoms that significantly impact patients’ quality of life. Effective management of these symptoms remains a major challenge. Identifying and understanding the interactions between these symptoms is crucial for improving symptom control and patient outcomes.
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the incidence and severity of symptoms in heart failure patients, construct a symptom network of heart failure patients, and explore the centrality of symptoms in the network. The goal was to identify core symptoms and explore the potential targets for symptom intervention.
Methods: A total of 1051 heart failure patients were selected through convenience sampling. The Chinese version of the Memorial Heart Failure Symptom Assessment Scale was used to assess the prevalence and severity of symptoms. Regularized partial correlation network analysis was employed to construct the symptom network and evaluate the centrality of each symptom within the network.
Results: Palpitations were found to be the most common symptom among heart failure patients, while lack of energy and depression were the most severe symptoms. In the symptom network, chest pain emerged as the core symptom with the highest predictability.
Conclusion: Intervening with chest pain as the core symptom can effectively reduce the severity of the entire symptom network. Early intervention for symptoms such as lack of energy can alleviate the burden of symptom management. Identifying predictable symptoms can help guide targeted symptom management strategies. Healthcare professionals can use the symptom patterns identified in this study to develop more precise and effective symptom management plans for heart failure patients.

Keywords: heart failure, core symptoms, network analysis, symptom management, cross-sectional study