OBJECTIVE:

To identify self-care behaviors, instruments, techniques, parameters for the assessment of self-care behaviors in people with heart failure, compare these behaviors with the indicators of the Nursing Outcomes Classification outcome, Self-Management: Cardiac Disease.

METHOD:

Integrative literature review performed in Lilacs, Medline, CINAHL, and Cochrane, including publications from 2009 to 2015. One thousand six hundred ninety-one articles were retrieved from the search, of which 165 were selected for analysis.

RESULTS:

Ten self-care behaviors and several different assessment instruments, techniques, and parameters were identified. The addition and removal of some indicators are proposed, based on this review. The data provide substrate for the development of conceptual and operational definitions of the indicators, making the outcome more applicable for use in clinical practice.