Quality of Life and its Relationship with Stress and Coping Strategies in Coronary Heart Disease Patients

Stress and coping strategies as well as other psychological factors affect quality of life among coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between quality of life, stress and coping strategies in coronary heart disease patients. This cross sectional study was carried out on 310 patients with coronary heart disease who reffered to CCU and angiography wards at Rafsanjan hospital between March and October 2009. The data were collected using three questionnaires, SF-36, Jaloweis coping strategies and Cohen's perceived stress. The validity and reliability of the questionnaires have been approved. T-test, ANOVA, Scheffe and Pearson Correlation methods were used to analyze the data. Results showed a negative significant relationship (p<0.0001) between quality of life and both stress (r=-0.68) and Emotion– Focused coping (r= -0.35). There was also a positive significant relationship (p<0.0001) between quality of life and Problem- Focused coping (r = 0.41). A negative significant relationship (p<0.0001) between stress and Problem-Focused coping (r= -0.49) as well as a positive significant relationship between stress and Emotion- Focused coping (r = 0.31) was observed. This can be concluded from our results that the use of Problem–Focused coping strategies is correlated with the decrease of perceived stress and improvement of quality of life in coronary heart disease patients.