Health consequences of partner distress in couples coping with heart failure

Background c heart failure (HF) is associated with psychologic distress for patients and their spouses. Although research indicates that a patientʹs distress can influence the course of illness, less is known about possible effects of a spouseʹs distress on the patient or of a patientʹs distress on the health of the spouse. s and Results ne home interviews of 60 patients with HF (43 men, 17 women) and their spouses included assessments of each partnerʹs psychologic distress (Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25) and perceived general health (Short Form-36 Questionnaire), as well as severity of patientsʹ HF symptoms. We repeated the health and HF-symptom assessments in follow-up interviews 6 months later. As hypothesized, the spouseʹs distress at baseline predicted an unfavorable course of patientsʹ HF symptoms and general health over the next 6 months, independently of the patientʹs own baseline distress. There were no prospective effects of the patientʹs distress on the spouseʹs health, however, suggesting that partner distress had asymmetric health consequences for patients and spouses. sion sults complement other evidence linking marital quality to the course of HF and highlight the importance of looking beyond the patient to improve prediction of health outcomes.