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Single item on positive affect is associated with 1-year survival in consecutive medical inpatients

Martin Scherer1, Christoph Herrmann-Lingen

  • 1Department of General Practice, University of Göttingen, D-37099 Göttingen, Germany.

General Hospital Psychiatry
|January 13, 2009
PubMed

Insights

A single question about enjoying things independently predicts 1-year survival in medical inpatients. This positive affect item showed a stronger association with survival than depressed mood indicators.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Prognosis
  • Psychological Impact on Health

Background:

  • Assessing patient prognosis is crucial for medical care.
  • The role of psychological factors, like affect, in patient outcomes requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the independent predictive effects of positive and negative affect items on mortality.
  • To determine if specific items from the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) predict survival.

Main Methods:

  • Consecutive general medical inpatients completed the HADS at admission.
  • Prognostic indicators were gathered from patient records and physician ratings.
  • Mortality from all causes was tracked for one year.

Main Results:

  • 575 patients completed the baseline assessment; 572 had survival data.
  • HADS depression scores and physical risk indicators predicted mortality.
  • A single item assessing positive affect ("Can enjoy things as much as before") independently predicted mortality, even after adjusting for other factors.

Conclusions:

  • A single measure of positive affect independently predicts 1-year survival in medical inpatients.
  • This positive affect item demonstrated a stronger association with survival than the presence of depressed mood.
Abstract

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