• Gabriele Caggianelli, Paolo Iovino, Paola Rebora, Giuseppe Occhino, Valentina Zeffiro, Giulia Locatelli, Davide Ausili, Rosaria Alvaro, Barbara Riegel, and Ercole Vellone.
• Department of Biomedicine and Prevention (G.C., P.I., V.Z., G.L., R.A., E.V.), University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2022 Feb 1; 63 (2): 221-229.e1.

ContextHeart failure (HF) patients experience high burden of physical symptoms during their disease trajectory.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effects of Motivational Interviewing (MI) on the burden of physical symptoms in HF patients.MethodsWe performed a secondary analysis of data from the MOTIVATE-HF randomized controlled trial. A sample of 510 patients (median 74 years, 58% male) and their caregivers (median 55 years, 75.5% female) was randomly allocated to Arm 1 (MI only for patients), Arm 2 (MI for patients and caregivers), and Arm 3 (standard of care). The MI intervention consisted of one face-to-face session plus three telephone calls conducted within two months from enrollment. Symptoms' burden was assessed with the Heart Failure Somatic Perception Scale (HFSPS) with the dimensions of Chest Discomfort, Dyspnea, Early and subtle and Edema. Data were collected at baseline and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after enrollment.ResultsAt 12 months, Chest Discomfort improved in Arms 1 and 2 vs Arm 3 (Δ: -8.13, 95% CI: -14.61; -1.65). Dyspnea improved in Arms 1 and 2 vs Arm 3 both at 9 and 12 months (Δ: -7, 95% CI: -13.18; -0.82 and -6.78, 95% CI: -13.19; -0.38); HFSPS total score improved in Arm 1 and Arm 2 vs Arm 3 at 9 months (Δ: -4.55, 95% CI: -9.05; -0.05). Over 1 year, Chest Discomfort and HFSPS total score in Arm 2 improved compared to Arm 3 (β= -2.61, 95% CI: -4.21; -1.00, P = 0.0015 and β=-1.35, 95% CI: -2.50; -0.21, P = 0.02).ConclusionMI reduces the burden of physical HF symptoms, particularly when caregivers are involved in the intervention.Copyright © 2021 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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