Influence of preparedness on anxiety, depression, and quality of life in caregivers of heart failure patients: Testing a model of path analysis

Objectives Testing the influence of heart failure (HF) caregiver preparedness on anxiety and depression, and the influence of HF caregiver anxiety and depression on caregiver physical and mental QOL. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we used the Caregiver Preparedness Scale (CPS), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) with the anxiety (HADS-A) and depression (HADS-D) subscales, and the Short-Form 12 (SF-12) measuring the physical component summary (PCS) and the mental component summary (MCS) of QOL. Socio-demographic data and patients’ clinic data were also collected. Data analysis was conducted with descriptive statistics, correlations, and path analysis. Results A total of 366 HF caregiver and patient dyads were enrolled. Caregivers were mostly females (73.3%) with a mean age of 58.61 (SD = 15.66) years. The tested model showed excellent fit indices with the following significant paths: CPS scores predicted HADS-D scores; HADS-A scores predicted MCS scores; and HADS-D scores predicted both PCS and MCS scores. Also, HADS-D mediated the relationship between CPS and MCS scores. Conclusion Preparedness influences HF caregiver depression and depression influences caregiver physical and mental QOL. Depression mediates between preparedness and HF caregiver mental QOL. Practice implications Interventions focused on improving HF caregiver preparedness may improve caregivers’ depression and QOL.