en Nursing Orginal research <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height:2;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="color:#2980b9;"><strong><em>Background</em></strong><em>:</em> </span>Exposure to death and the resulting anxiety is a significant dimension of the mental health of patients suffering from chronic diseases, including heart failure.<br> <strong><em><span style="color:#2980b9;">Objectives:</span> </em></strong>Illness perception affects adherence to health-promoting behaviors and health outcomes. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a perception-based intervention on death anxiety in patients with heart failure.<br> <span style="color:#2980b9;"><strong><em>Methods:</em></strong></span> Following a randomized clinical trial design, 120 patients suffering from heart failure, recruited using convenient sampling, were categorized into two groups of control and intervention using the randomized minimization method. The intervention group received three 30-minute sessions of training, while the control group only received routine interventions. Data were collected using a demographic information checklist, brief illness perception questionnaire (BIPQ), and Templer Death Anxiety Scale. Data analysis was administered by independent t-test, paired t-test, chi-square, and Wilcoxon tests using SPSS version 22.<br> <span style="color:#2980b9;"><strong><em>Results</em>:</strong></span> There was a significant difference between the study groups concerning anxiety scores before and after the intervention (P<0.001). Death anxiety scores before the intervention were not significantly different between the two groups (P=0.640), but there was a statistically significant difference in death anxiety scores after the intervention (P<0.001).<br> <span style="color:#2980b9;"><strong><em>Conclusion:</em></strong></span> Regarding the importance of death anxiety in patients with heart failure, this study demonstrated the importance of using perception-based interventions.</span></span></span></div> Illness Perception, Death Anxiety, Heart Failure 59 68 http://nmcjournal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-836-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Negin Babaei Vahed 100319475328460014237 100319475328460014237 No Department of Critical Care Nursing, Nursing and Midwifery School, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Mahin Roohani Roohani@zums.ac.ir 100319475328460014238 100319475328460014238 Yes Department of Critical Care Nursing, Nursing and Midwifery School, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Saeedeh Zenoozian zenoozaian@yahoo.com 100319475328460014239 100319475328460014239 No Assistant Professor, Department of clinical psychology, Zanjan University of Medical Science, Zanjan, Iran Elham Faghihzadeh 100319475328460014240 100319475328460014240 No Assistant Professor, Departeman of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Kourosh Amini korosh@zums.ac.ir 100319475328460014241 100319475328460014241 No Associate Professor, Zanjan Social Departeman of Health Research Center, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran