Coping Strategies and Health-Related Quality of Life in Individuals with Heart Failure

Background: Heart failure (HF) contributes to a poor physical and emotional health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and poor health outcomes. Coping strategies have been identified as essential in enhancing HRQoL. The study's purpose was to examine the relationships between the factors that influence coping (i.e., age, sex, education, income, HF duration), HF severity, coping strategies (i.e., problem-focused, active emotion-focused, avoidant emotion-focused), and physical and emotional HRQoL. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using online surveys. Descriptives, Pearson's correlation, and one-way ANOVA analyses were used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 108 participants completed the study, with the majority being Black men. The result showed significant negative relationships (p < 0.05) between problem-focused and active emotion-focused coping and HF severity. Lower age was significantly related to the use of problem-focused and active emotion-focused coping (p < 0.05); females showed higher use of all coping strategies as compared with males (p < 0.05). A better physical HRQoL was significantly associated with active emotion-focused coping (r = -0.283, p = 0.005), whereas a better emotional HRQoL was significantly associated with problem-focused coping (r = -0.265, p = 0.005) and active emotion-focused coping (r = -0.373, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Findings showed that individuals with a lower HF severity, a younger age, and a higher income and education tended to predominantly utilize adaptive coping strategies. Individuals with HF who use problem-focused and active emotion-focused coping may experience better physical and emotional HRQoL, whereas those using primarily avoidant emotional-focused coping may need guidance in their coping strategies. Healthcare professionals may take factors such as HF severity into account to tailor interventions that promote adaptive coping and enhance HRQoL outcomes.