Psychological Well-Being as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Social Support and Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease

Abstract

Background:

Coronary heart disease is a chronic disease. As patients undergo the process of adapting to a chronic disease, they are susceptible to comorbid psychological distress symptoms. Social support has a direct impact on the mental health of individuals with chronic diseases and also influences their quality of life.

Purpose:

This study aimed to investigate the mediating effect of psychological well-being (PWB) in the relationship between social support and health-related quality of life among patients with coronary heart disease.

Methods:

The study employed a cross-sectional design using purposive sampling to sample patients from a cardiology outpatient department at a regional teaching hospital in Taiwan. We collected clinical data from 280 patients diagnosed with coronary heart disease. The questionnaires used were the World Health Organization-5 Well-Being Index, Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey, and 12-item Short-Form General Health Survey.

Results:

This study found that age, age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index, PWB, and social support were significant predictors of health-related quality of life, accounting for 45.4% of the variance. Of these, PWB was the most important predictor, explaining 38.4% of the variance. In addition, PWB partially mediated the relationship between social support and health-related quality of life, with an overall mediation effect of 47.12%.

Conclusions:

PWB emerged as the most important predictor of health-related quality of life in this population. To enhance patients’ health-related quality of life, in addition to strengthening social support, promoting PWB may also contribute to improving patients’ health-related quality of life.