TY - JOUR
T1 - Spiritual well-being and depression in patients with heart failure
AU - Bekelman, David B.
AU - Dy, Sydney M.
AU - Becker, Diane M.
AU - Wittstein, Ilan S.
AU - Hendricks, Danetta E.
AU - Yamashita, Traci E.
AU - Gottlieb, Sheldon H.
N1 - Funding Information:
The study was funded by the Johns Hopkins Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine; Johns Hopkins General Clinical Research Center; and the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, NIH. None of these funders had a role in study design, data collection, analyses, interpretation, report writing, or decision to submit paper for publication.
PY - 2007/4
Y1 - 2007/4
N2 - BACKGROUND: In patients with chronic heart failure, depression is common and associated with poor quality of life, more frequent hospitalizations, and higher mortality. Spiritual well-being is an important, modifiable coping resource in patients with terminal cancer and is associated with less depression, but little is known about the role of spiritual well-being in patients with heart failure. OBJECTIVE: To identify the relationship between spiritual well-being and depression in patients with heart failure. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty patients aged 60 years or older with New York Heart Association class II-IV heart failure. MEASUREMENTS: Spiritual well-being was measured using the total scale and 2 subscales (meaning/peace, faith) of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being scale, depression using the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-SF). RESULTS: The median age of participants was 75 years. Nineteen participants (32%) had clinically significant depression (GDS-SF > 4). Greater spiritual well-being was strongly inversely correlated with depression (Spearman's correlation -0.55, 95% confidence interval -0.70 to -0.35). In particular, greater meaning/peace was strongly associated with less depression (r = -.60, P < .0001), while faith was only modestly associated (r = -.38, P < .01). In a regression analysis accounting for gender, income, and other risk factors for depression (social support, physical symptoms, and health status), greater spiritual well-being continued to be significantly associated with less depression (P = .05). Between the 2 spiritual well-being subscales, only meaning/peace contributed significantly to this effect (P = .02) and accounted for 7% of the variance in depression. CONCLUSIONS: Among outpatients with heart failure, greater spiritual well-being, particularly meaning/peace, was strongly associated with less depression. Enhancement of patients' sense of spiritual well-being might reduce or prevent depression and thus improve quality of life and other outcomes in this population.
AB - BACKGROUND: In patients with chronic heart failure, depression is common and associated with poor quality of life, more frequent hospitalizations, and higher mortality. Spiritual well-being is an important, modifiable coping resource in patients with terminal cancer and is associated with less depression, but little is known about the role of spiritual well-being in patients with heart failure. OBJECTIVE: To identify the relationship between spiritual well-being and depression in patients with heart failure. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty patients aged 60 years or older with New York Heart Association class II-IV heart failure. MEASUREMENTS: Spiritual well-being was measured using the total scale and 2 subscales (meaning/peace, faith) of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being scale, depression using the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-SF). RESULTS: The median age of participants was 75 years. Nineteen participants (32%) had clinically significant depression (GDS-SF > 4). Greater spiritual well-being was strongly inversely correlated with depression (Spearman's correlation -0.55, 95% confidence interval -0.70 to -0.35). In particular, greater meaning/peace was strongly associated with less depression (r = -.60, P < .0001), while faith was only modestly associated (r = -.38, P < .01). In a regression analysis accounting for gender, income, and other risk factors for depression (social support, physical symptoms, and health status), greater spiritual well-being continued to be significantly associated with less depression (P = .05). Between the 2 spiritual well-being subscales, only meaning/peace contributed significantly to this effect (P = .02) and accounted for 7% of the variance in depression. CONCLUSIONS: Among outpatients with heart failure, greater spiritual well-being, particularly meaning/peace, was strongly associated with less depression. Enhancement of patients' sense of spiritual well-being might reduce or prevent depression and thus improve quality of life and other outcomes in this population.
KW - Depression
KW - Heart failure
KW - Palliative care
KW - Spirituality
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U2 - 10.1007/s11606-006-0044-9
DO - 10.1007/s11606-006-0044-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 17372795
AN - SCOPUS:34250167643
SN - 0884-8734
VL - 22
SP - 470
EP - 477
JO - Journal of general internal medicine
JF - Journal of general internal medicine
IS - 4
ER -