Relationship of coping styles with quality of life and depressive symptoms in older heart failure patients

This study examines the relationship between coping styles, quality of life, and depressive symptoms in older heart failure patients. Eighty heart failure patients seeking treatment in an outpatient heart failure or family practice clinic participated in a study examining depression, disability, and heart failure. Patients completed a clinical interview and questionnaires about mood, functional impairment, comorbid illness, quality of life, and coping. Heart failure severity and maladaptive coping styles, including denial, self-distraction, and self-blame, negatively affected quality of life and depressive symptoms. The use of maladaptive coping strategies involves efforts that divert attention from the illness and suggests the need to provide heart failure patients the skills to directly address the stress associated with their illness. Interventions that target these coping strategies may help patients take a more active role in their heart failure management and may improve psychological and cardiac outcomes.