title: Emotional well-being of heart failure patients and their caregivers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Heart failure (HF) dramatically affects the lives of both patients and their caregivers, yet limited research exists examining the relationship between emotional well-being of HF patients and their caregivers. Therefore, we conducted a study to (1) describe and compare the emotional well-being of HF patients and their caregivers, (2) determine if gender differences exist in emotional well-being of patients and caregivers, and (3) identify factors associated with emotional well-being of HF patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The emotional well-being of 103 patient-caregiver dyads was assessed using the mental health subscale of the SF-12.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients were 57.6 +/- 12.1 years, predominantly Caucasian (76.7%) and male (67.0%). Caregivers were 59.5 +/- 17.6 years, predominantly females (70.9%) and spouses of patients with HF (82.6%). Patients had significantly lower (poorer) emotional well-being scores than caregivers. Both gender and age were associated with patients' emotional well-being; male and younger participants had higher (better) scores than female and older patients (P <.05). In a multivariate model, patient's age, gender, and caregivers' emotional well-being accounted for 54% of the variance in patients' emotional well-being.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that the emotional well-being of caregivers is associated with the emotional well-being of HF patients. Our findings suggest the need to focus on supporting caregivers and providing them with the strategies they need to support their loved ones with HF.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles, 90025, USA.
authors.forename: Lorraine S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Evangelista
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dracup
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Doering
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Westlake
authors.forename: Gregg C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Fonarow
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamilton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic