Impact of social support and religiosity/spirituality on recovery from acute cardiac events and heart surgery in Switzerland

Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of social support and religiosity/spirituality (R/S) on the recovery from an acute cardiac event or cardiac surgery during cardiac rehabilitation (CR).

Methods

In this prospective study, a convenience sample of 159 patients participating in a CR program were enrolled. Religiosity/spirituality, social support, anxiety, depression, health related quality of life (QoL), and exercise capacity (6-min walk test, cycle ergometer test) were assessed.

Results

Social support was significantly associated with less anxiety (p < .01), less depression (p < .01), and better QoL (p < .05) on admission. After adjustment for age, gender, education level, and morbidity, social support remained significantly associated with less depression (p < .001). Religiosity/spirituality was significantly associated with less depression (p < .05), better QoL (p < .05), and better exercise capacity (p < .05) at admission. After adjustment for covariates, however, significance was lost. There were no significant impact of either social support or R/S on the course of CR measured by change in QoL or exercise capacity.

Conclusion

Social support may be a protective factor against depression in the recovery from cardiac events or surgery. Neither social support nor R/S had a significant impact on the course of the 3-week CR program.

Keywords

social support religiosity spirituality cardiac rehabilitation “(Int’l. J. Psychiatry in Medicine 2012;30:000-000)”

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Federal Statistical Office (FSO) . Cause of death statistics - Death and its main causes in Switzerland, 2016. Bundesamt für Stat Neuchâtel; BFS-No 1260-1600. 2016:1-4. https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/gesundheit/gesundheitszustand/sterblichkeit-todesursachen.assetdetail.7206482.html

Ginzburg

. Life events and adjustment following myocardial infarction: a longitudinal study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2006;41(10):825-831. doi:10.1007/s00127-006-0104-9.

Svedlund

Danielson

Norberg

. Women’s narratives during the acute phase of their myocardial infarction. J Adv Nurs. 2001;35(2):197-205. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2648.2001.01837.x.

Thompson

EHJ

Killgore

Connors

. “Heart trouble” and religious involvement among older white men and women. J Relig Health. 2009;48(3):317-331. doi:10.1007/s10943-008-9202-1.

Blinderman

Homel

Billings

Portenoy

Tennstedt

. Symptom distress and quality of life in patients with advanced congestive heart failure. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2008;35(6):594-603. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2007.06.007.

Griffin

MTQ

Lee

Y-H

Salman

, et al. Spirituality and well being among elders: differences between elders with heart failure and those without heart failure. Clin Interv Aging. 2007;2(4):669-675. doi:10.2147/cia.s874.

Soleimani

Pahlevan Sharif

Allen

Yaghoobzadeh

Sharif Nia

Gorgulu

. Psychometric properties of the Persian version of spiritual well-being scale in patients with acute myocardial infarction. J Relig Health. 2017;56(6):1981-1997. doi:10.1007/s10943-016-0305-9.

Yeganeh khah

Abedini

Akbari

Ziyayi Nezhad

. Comparison of different methods of education on reducing the anxiety of patients with myocardial infarction. Iran J Nurs. 2012;24(74):36-44. https://ijn.iums.ac.ir/article-1-1055-en.html. Accessed May 19, 2020.

Jenkins

Jono

Stanton

. Predicting completeness of symptom relief after major heart surgery. Behav Med. 1996;22:45. doi:10.1080/08964289.1996.9933764.

10.

Ambrosetti

Abreu

Corrà

, et al. Secondary prevention through comprehensive cardiovascular rehabilitation: from knowledge to implementation. 2020 update. A position paper from the Secondary Prevention and Rehabilitation Section of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2021;28:460. doi:10.1177/2047487320913379.

11.

Hemingway

Marmot

. Evidence based cardiology: psychosocial factors in the aetiology and prognosis of coronary heart disease. Systematic review of prospective cohort studies. BMJ. 1999;318(7196):1460-1467. doi:10.1136/bmj.318.7196.1460.

12.

Blikman

MJC

Jacobsen

Eide

Meland

. How important are social support, expectations and coping patterns during cardiac rehabilitation. Rehabil Res Pract. 2014;2014:973549. doi:10.1155/2014/973549.

13.

Park

Lim

Newlon

Suresh

Bliss

. Dimensions of religiousness and spirituality as predictors of well-being in advanced chronic heart failure patients. J Relig Health. 2014;53(2):579-590. doi:10.1007/s10943-013-9714-1.

14.

Najafi Ghezeljeh

Emami

. Strategies for recreating normal life: Iranian coronary heart disease patients’ perspectives on coping strategies. J Clin Nurs. 2014;23(15-16):2151-2160. doi:10.1111/jocn.12428.

15.

Kamm-Steigelman

Kimble

Dunbar

Sowell

Bairan

. Religion, relationships and mental health in midlife women following acute myocardial infarction. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2006;27(2):141-159. doi:10.1080/01612840500436925.

16.

McConnell

Trevino

Klinger

. Demographic differences in religious coping after a first-time cardiac event. J Cardiopulm Rehabil Prev. 2011;31(5):298-302. doi:10.1097/HCR.0b013e31821c41f0.

17.

Park

Huang

Rodgers

Tice

. Psychosocial mediation of religious coping styles: a study of short-term psychological distress following cardiac surgery. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2007;33(6):867-882. doi:10.1177/0146167207301008.

18.

Bean

Gibson

Flattery

Duncan

Hess

. Psychosocial factors, quality of life, and psychological distress: ethnic differences in patients with heart failure. Prog Cardiovasc Nurs. 2009;24(4):131-140. doi:10.1111/j.1751-7117.2009.00051.x.

19.

Pargament

Koenig

Tarakeshwar

Hahn

. Religious struggle as a predictor of mortality among medically ill elderly patients: a 2-year longitudinal study. Arch Intern Med. 2001;161(15):1881-1885. doi:10.1001/archinte.161.15.1881.

20.

Holland

Spruit

Troosters

, et al. An official European Respiratory Society/American Thoracic Society technical standard: field walking tests in chronic respiratory disease. Eur Respir J. 2014;44(6):1428-1446. doi:10.1183/09031936.00150314.

21.

Linn

Gurel

. Cumulative illness rating scale. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1968;16(5):622-626. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.1968.tb02103.x.

22.

Höfer

Lim

Guyatt

Oldridge

. The MacNew Heart Disease health-related quality of life instrument: a summary. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2004;2(1):3. doi:10.1186/1477-7525-2-3.

23.

Höfer

Benzer

Schüßler

von Steinbüchel

Oldridge

. Health-related quality of life in patients with coronary artery disease treated for angina: validity and reliability of German translations of two specific questionnaires. Qual Life Res. 2003;12(2):199-212. doi:10.1023/A:1022272620947.

24.

Gramm

Farin

Jaeckel

. Psychometric properties of the German version of the MacNew heart disease health-related quality of life questionnaire. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2012;10(1):83. doi:10.1186/1477-7525-10-83.

25.

Zigmond

Snaith

. The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1983;67(6):361-370. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1983.tb09716.x.

26.

Herrmann

. International experiences with the hospital anxiety and depression scale-A review of validation data and clinical results. J Psychosom Res. 1997;42(1):17-41. doi:10.1016/S0022-3999(96)00216-4.

27.

Snaith

Zigmond

Herrmann-Lingen

Buss

. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Deutsche Version; HADS-D; ein Fragebogen zur Erfassung von Angst und Depressivitat in der Somatischen Medizin. Bern: Testdokumentation und Handanweisung; 1995.

28.

Kendel

Spaderna

Sieverding

, et al. Eine deutsche adaptation des ENRICHD social support inventory (ESSI) Teststatistische uberprüfung an kardialen patienten. Diagnostica. 2011;57:99-106. doi:10.1026/0012-1924/a000030.

29.

Huber

. The centrality of religiosity scale (CRS). Religions. 2012;3:710. doi:10.3390/rel3030710.

30.

Rieger

Stiftung

Gütersloh

. What the World Believes: Analysis and Commentary on the Religion Monitor 2008. München: Brookings Institution Press. https://books.google.ch/books?id=U4krPAAACAAJ (2009).

31.

Büssing

. Spirituality as a resource to rely on in chronic illness: the SpREUK questionnaire. Religions. 2010;1:9. doi:10.3390/rel1010009.

32.

Büssing

Ostermann

Matthiessen

. Role of religion and spirituality in medical patients: confirmatory results with the SpREUK questionnaire. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2005;3(1):10. doi:10.1186/1477-7525-3-10.

33.

Büssing

. The SpREUK-SF10 questionnaire as a rapid measure of spiritual search and religious trust in patients with chronic diseases. Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Xue Bao. 2010;8:832-841. doi:10.3736/jcim20100906.

34.

Compare

Zarbo

Manzoni

, et al. Social support, depression, and heart disease: a ten year literature review. Front Psychol. 2013;4:384. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00384.

35.

Robles

Kiecolt-Glaser

. The physiology of marriage: pathways to health. Physiol Behav. 2003;79(3):409-416. doi:10.1016/s0031-9384(03)00160-4.

36.

Spitzer

Kroenke

Linzer

, et al. Health-related quality of life in primary care patients with mental disorders: results from the PRIME-MD 1000 study. JAMA. 1995;274(19):1511-1517. doi:10.1001/jama.1995.03530190025030.

37.

Krause

. Exploring the stress-buffering effects of church-based and secular social support on self-rated health in late life. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2006;61(1):S35-43. doi:10.1093/geronb/61.1.s35.

38.

Krause

. Common facets of religion, unique facets of religion, and life satisfaction among older African Americans. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2004;59(2):S109-S117. doi:10.1093/geronb/59.2.s109.

39.

Chatters

Taylor

Woodward

Nicklett

. Social support from church and family members and depressive symptoms among older African Americans. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2015;23(6):559-567. doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2014.04.008.

40.

Fischer Aggarwal

Liao

Mosca

. Physical activity as a potential mechanism through which social support may reduce cardiovascular disease risk. J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2008;23:90. doi:10.1097/01.JCN.0000305074.43775.d8.

41.

Contrada

Goyal

Cather

Rafalson

Idler

Krause

. Psychosocial factors in outcomes of heart surgery: the impact of religious involvement and depressive symptoms. Heal Psychol. 2004;23(3):227-238. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.23.3.227.

42.

Karademas

. Illness cognitions as a pathway between religiousness and subjective health in chronic cardiac patients. J Health Psychol. 2010;15:239-247. doi:10.1177/1359105309347585.

43.

Trevino

McConnell

. Religiosity and religious coping in patients with cardiovascular disease: change over time and associations with illness adjustment. J Relig Health. 2014;53(6):1907-1917. doi:10.1007/s10943-014-9897-0.

44.

Abu

Ulbricht

Ding

, et al. Association of religiosity and spirituality with quality of life in patients with cardiovascular disease: a systematic review. Qual Life Res. 2018;27(11):2777-2797. doi:10.1007/s11136-018-1906-4.

45.

Hefti

Klicpera

. Originalia. Der Einfluss von Religiosität und Spiritualität auf das Ergebnis nach Bypassoperation. Spirit Care. 2013;2:8-20. doi:10.1515/spircare-2013-0024.

46.

Huber

. Are religious beliefs relevant in daily life? In: Religion Inside and Outside Traditional Institutions. Leiden: Brill; 2007:209-230.