Relationship Between the Elderly Patients’ Comfort and the Stress, Anxiety, Depression of Their Families: Sari City (Iran), 2019

One of the most important concerns of the families of hospitalized elderly patients is their comfort. Considering the importance of comfort in the elderly and its psychological and physical effects on their families, this study aims to investigate the relationship between the elderly patients’ comfort and the stress, anxiety and depression of their families.

This is a descriptive correlational study on 136 elderly people admitted to public and private hospitals in Sari, Iran and their families who were selected by a convenience sampling method. Data collection instruments were the 21-item depression anxiety stress scale and the hospice comfort questionnaire. The correlation between the components of comfort, stress, anxiety and depression was analyzed by Pearson correlation test. Linear regression analysis was used to predict the comfort level of the elderly based on the stress level of their family members. Statistical calculations were performed in SPSS software, version 24.

The mean±SD age of the family group was 39.42±8.72 years and 88 (50.9%) were female. Family members aged >50 and females had higher depression, anxiety and stress (P <0.001). The highest score of comfort in the elderly was related to the sociocultural domain (58.9 ±12), while the lowest score was related to the psychospiritual domain (35.8±15.5). Pearson correlation test results showed the significant and negative relationship of physical and psychospiritual domains of comfort with depression, anxiety and stress in the families (P<0.05). The linear regression model showed that the comfort of the hospitalized elderly could explain the stress of the family members (P<0.001).

The comfort of the hospitalized elderly patients is related to anxiety, depression and stress of their families. Therefore, simultaneous attention should be paid to the comfort of the elderly and the psychological state of their families in the hospital.