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Background Meaning in life serves as a protective mechanism for coping with persistent, often distressful symptoms in patients with heart failure. However, meaning in life and its associated factors are not adequately explored in patients after acute hospitalisation for heart failure. Aims To explore the associated factors of meaning in life in patients with heart failure from acute hospitalisation to 3 months post-discharge. Methods A total of 103 hospitalised patients with heart failure in Northern Taiwan were recruited using a longitudinal study design and interviewed with structured questionnaires including meaning in life, symptom distress, care needs, and social support at hospitalisation, 1 month and 3 months post-discharge. Results A total of 83 patients completed the 3 months follow-up. The presence of meaning in life significantly increased from hospitalisation to 3 months post-discharge. Decreases in care needs (B =-0.10, P = 0.020) and social support (B =-0.18, P = 0.016) from hospitalisation to 3 months post-discharge were significantly associated with an increase in the presence of meaning in life, while a decrease in social support was associated with an increase in the search for meaning in life (B =-0.17, P = 0.034). Conclusion Care needs and social support were pivotal factors for developing meaning in life for patients with heart failure. Assessments of care needs and social support might help strengthen their meaning in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We assess the association between marital quality and both the risk of developing diabetes and the management of diabetes after its onset in later life. Method: We use data from the first two waves of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project to estimate regression models with lagged dependent variables. The sample includes 1,228 married respondents, among whom 389 were diabetic. Those with either a reported diagnosis or with HbA1c > 6.5% are identified diabetic. We categorize diabetic respondents into three groups: controlled, undiagnosed, and uncontrolled diabetes. We conduct factor analysis to construct positive and negative marital quality scales. Results: For women, an increase in positive marital quality between Waves 1 and 2 is related to a lower risk of being diabetic at Wave 2, net of diabetes status at Wave 1; surprisingly, for men, an increase in negative marital quality between Waves 1 and 2 is related to both a lower risk of being diabetic at Wave 2 and a higher chance of controlling diabetes at Wave 2 after its onset. Discussion: Our results challenge the traditional assumption that negative marital quality is always detrimental to health and encourage family scholars to distinguish different sources and types of negative marital quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]