Predicting Quality of Life in Veterans with Heart Failure: The Role of Disease Severity, Depression, and Comorbid Anxiety

Abstract

This study focused on the relative contribution of heart failure (HF) disease severity, depression, and comorbid anxiety to quality of life for 96 ambulatory HF veterans (48 with and 48 without depressive symptoms). Primary analyses sought to predict HF quality of life using constructs including depression symptoms, comorbid anxiety symptoms, HF severity, medical-illness burden, and demographic factors. Multiple regression procedures found 3 significant predictors of better quality of life, including HF severity (β = −13.33, p < .001), depressive symptoms (β = −2.34, p = .003), and age (β = 0.76, p < .01). These results suggest that disease severity and depression, but not necessarily comorbid anxiety, significantly affect quality of life for HF patients. As HF is a progressive, deteriorating condition, mental health interventions, especially those that target depression, might offer opportunities for improved quality of life for HF patients.

Keywords:

• anxiety
• cardiovascular disease
• depression
• mental health services
• quality of life

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was supported by Grant No. CDA-2 05-288, Career Development Award, from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) Service, Washington, DC, to Jeffrey Cully; Grant No. 07-105 Pilot Study Award, South Central Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center to Jeffrey Cully; and the Houston Center for Quality of Care & Utilization Studies (HFP90-020), HSR&D Service, Office of Research and Development. No funding agencies played a role in the design and conduct of this study or the analysis and interpretation of data.

Notes

1. The views expressed reflect those of the authors and not necessarily the Department of Veterans Affairs (Baylor College of Medicine).