Διερεύνηση σχέσης κοινωνικής στήριξης και ποιότητας ζωής ατόμων με καρδιακή ανεπάρκεια

Abstract

Introduction: Compared to the healthy general population, people with heart failure (HF) exhibit overall lower quality of life (QoL) in several areas. Social support can improve the low QOL of patients with HF in order to properly manage the symptoms of the disease, maintaining the physical and emotional well-being of people with HF Background Aim: The main purpose of this research study was to investigate the relationship between Social support and QOL in patients with HF Methods: It is a descriptive correlation study. The population of the study is comprised from 117 patients with HF who were hospitalized in the cardiology departments and patients who visited the outpatient clinics of public hospitals in Cyprus, staging NYHA I-IV, during the period 2010 to 2013. The data were collected by completing the questionnaires «Multidimensional scale of perceived social support» (MSPSS) and «Minnesota Lining with Heart Failure Questionnaire» (MLHFQ). For the statistical analysis, Pearson tests were conducted and as well as Hierarchical Regression Analysis. This study is part of a research project MEETinCY (NCT01905176) Results: The total score of MSPSS has a moderate negative correlation with the total score of MLHFQ (r = -0.31 p <0.01). Lower values of QOL are associated with higher rates of Social support, which means that people with better QOL tend to report greater perceived social support. Furthermore, the overall rating of MSPPS are significantly associated with the physical (r = -0.36 p <0.05) and emotional dimension (r = -0.24, p = 0.05), but not with the social dimension of QOL (r = 0.05, p = 0.98). The hierarchical regression analysis showed that the gender (p = 0.042) and NYHA staging affect the relationship between social support and QOL. Specifically, the positive effect of Social support on the QOL of the patient, are strongest in NYHA I (p=0,0001) staging than in NYHA II (p = 0,086), in NYHA III (p <0.0001) and NYHA IV (p <0.0001) Conclusions: The current results indicate that the lack of social support has a negative impact on the QOL of patients with HF