Methods: During a period of one year, a total of 116 participants was recruited. A descriptive method, structured questionnaires and physiologic variables were conducted in this cross-sectional study. Received the location for the Cardiology Department of Cardiology and Cardiology Internal Medicine ward.The participants were the caregivers of patients with heat failure with grade II-IV according to the New York Heart association classification of heart failure. Patients with heart failure at least 1 year of illness, and their caregivers meet the above conditions.The assessment items included the stressors, load, health status and life quality. The blood cortisol level was also done. Using multiple regression analysis to analyze the relationships between the three main independent variables and the quality of life and Pearson's correlation was used to examine the correlation between the three principal independent variables from SF-36.
Results：The results showed that when the caregiver's stress level and load level are higher and the quality of life will be worse, especially in the psychological and physical aspects of quality of life. In addition, the blood cortisol levels of caregivers had negative correlations with the scores of physical functioning、role-physical、mental health、vitality、general health、Physicaland Mental dimensions from SF-36. On the other hand, the higher the time load of the caregiver, the more likely the patient's health including the items of physical functioning、bodily pain、mental health、general health and Physicaland
Conclusions: The results of this study may provide the nursing staff to assess the care and health aspects of caregivers, handle the stress of caregivers in caring and improve the quality of care of patients with heart failure.
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