Depressive Symptoms, Quality of Life and Vitamin Supplements in Heart Failure Patients

Ali Salman, ND, MD, RN¹, Yi-Hui Lee, PhD, MSN, RN², Rabab Salman, MD, MS³, Mary T. Quinn Griffin, PhD, MSN, MEd, RN⁴, and Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, RN, PhD, MBA, FAAN⁴. (1) Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, Clevelnad, OH, USA, (2) College of Nursing and Health, Wright State University, Fairborn, OH, USA, (3) Department of Pediatrics, Hospital D enfant, Dijon, France, (4) Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

There are an estimated 5,000,000 Americans living with heart failure (HF). HF is one of the most threatening and potentially disabling diseases. It may be coupled with clinically relevant psychological impairment such as depression, anxiety, and anger. HF is typically associated with compromised quality of life (QOL) for the affected individuals. Studies have shown that HF is associated with higher scores of depressive symptoms that increase as (New York Heart Association) NYHA heart failure functional class worsens. Recent research findings have revealed a positive correlation between NYHA level and QOL. Moreover, vitamin supplements have become popular because of its perceived role in protecting the body from some diseases and degenerating aspects of aging process. To date, studies have not evaluated depressive symptoms’ predictive capacity of QOL in HF patients. Also, it is unknown what percent of patients with HF consume vitamin supplements. Therefore, a descriptive predictive study of a convenience sample of 120 adults with HF, ages 21 and older, will be used to examine whether depressive symptoms predicts QOL and to identify the prevalence of patients who consume vitamin supplements. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale is a measure of depressive symptoms will be used in this study. Quality of life will be measured by using SF-36 and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire. Pearson correlation Coefficient will be used to examine the strength of the relationship between QOL and depressive symptoms in HF patients. A regression analysis will be performed to establish the predictive value of depressive symptoms in determining quality of life level while controlling for NYHA, gender, BMI and age. This study will enhance our understanding about the relationship between depressive symptoms and QOL in HF patients. It will also stimulate further research and assist in developing appropriate strategies for improving HF patients' outcomes.

Learning Objective #1: Examine depressive symptoms’ predictive capacity of QOL in HF patients
Learning Objective #2: Identify what percent of patients with HF consume vitamin supplements