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Spiritual Well-Being and Depression in Patients with Heart Failure

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An Erratum to this article was published on 26 April 2007

Abstract

Background

In patients with chronic heart failure, depression is common and associated with poor quality of life, more frequent hospitalizations, and higher mortality. Spiritual well-being is an important, modifiable coping resource in patients with terminal cancer and is associated with less depression, but little is known about the role of spiritual well-being in patients with heart failure.

Objective

To identify the relationship between spiritual well-being and depression in patients with heart failure.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Participants

Sixty patients aged 60 years or older with New York Heart Association class II–IV heart failure.

Measurements

Spiritual well-being was measured using the total scale and 2 subscales (meaning/peace, faith) of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy—Spiritual Well-being scale, depression using the Geriatric Depression Scale—Short Form (GDS-SF).

Results

The median age of participants was 75 years. Nineteen participants (32%) had clinically significant depression (GDS-SF > 4). Greater spiritual well-being was strongly inversely correlated with depression (Spearman’s correlation −0.55, 95% confidence interval −0.70 to −0.35). In particular, greater meaning/peace was strongly associated with less depression (r = −.60, P < .0001), while faith was only modestly associated (r = −.38, P < .01). In a regression analysis accounting for gender, income, and other risk factors for depression (social support, physical symptoms, and health status), greater spiritual well-being continued to be significantly associated with less depression (P = .05). Between the 2 spiritual well-being subscales, only meaning/peace contributed significantly to this effect (P = .02) and accounted for 7% of the variance in depression.

Conclusions

Among outpatients with heart failure, greater spiritual well-being, particularly meaning/peace, was strongly associated with less depression. Enhancement of patients’ sense of spiritual well-being might reduce or prevent depression and thus improve quality of life and other outcomes in this population.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the seriously ill patients in the study for their participation.

Potential Financial Conflicts of Interest

None disclosed

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, 4200 East Ninth Avenue, B180, Denver, CO, 80262, USA

    David B. Bekelman MD & Traci E. Yamashita MS

  2. Department of Health Policy & Management, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Sydney M. Dy MD & Danetta E. Hendricks MA

  3. Division of Internal Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Diane M. Becker ScD

  4. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Ilan S. Wittstein MD

  5. Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Sheldon H. Gottlieb MD

Authors
  1. David B. Bekelman MD
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  2. Sydney M. Dy MD
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  3. Diane M. Becker ScD
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  4. Ilan S. Wittstein MD
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  5. Danetta E. Hendricks MA
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  6. Traci E. Yamashita MS
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  7. Sheldon H. Gottlieb MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David B. Bekelman MD.

Additional information

This study was presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, November 17, 2005, Santa Ana Pueblo, NM; The Annual Assembly of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine & Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, February 9, 2006, Nashville, TN; the 29th Society of General Internal Medicine Annual Meeting, April 26–29, 2006, Los Angeles, CA; and the 7th Scientific Forum on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke, May 7–9, 2006, Washington, DC.

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11606-007-0174-8

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Bekelman, D.B., Dy, S.M., Becker, D.M. et al. Spiritual Well-Being and Depression in Patients with Heart Failure. J GEN INTERN MED 22, 470–477 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-006-0044-9

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