Coping and mortality among patients with congestive heart failure

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of different coping styles on mortality risk among patients with symptomatic congestive heart failure (CHF). Proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the effects of different coping styles on mortality among 119 clinically stable patients (71.4% men, mean age 65.7 +/- 9.6 years), recruited from an outpatient cardiology practice. Twenty deaths were registered during the 24-month period of data collection, all from cardiac causes. The findings showed that behavioral disengagement was a significant predictor of mortality with a hazard ratio of 1.64 (p less than or equal to .049), whereas acceptance of the CHF condition showed a marginally significant association with mortality (hazard ratio .64; p less than or equal to .09). The results suggest that behavioral disengagement in relation to coping with disease-related strain is a significant predictor of mortality among heart failure patients. This finding is of concern to clinicians and should have implications for treatment of patients with CHF. Given the link between behavioral disengagement and mortality demonstrated in this study, it is important to explore ways in which counseling in active coping skills might help patients who behaviorally disengage to manage their disease and thereby increase their longevity.