Emotional well-being of heart failure patients and their caregivers.
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.
Evangelista
Lorraine S
LS
School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles, 90025, USA.
Dracup
Kathleen
K
Doering
Lynn
L
Westlake
Cheryl
C
Fonarow
Gregg C
GC
Hamilton
Michele
M
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