Marital quality and loneliness as predictors for subjective health status in cardiac rehabilitation patients following percutaneous coronary intervention

Background Low marital quality is associated with adverse health outcomes and lower personal well-being. Loneliness increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality and predicts poor quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between marital quality and loneliness and subjective health status in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) patients who underwent cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Design/methods In a prospective cohort study, pPCI patients that followed CR were included between 2009-2011. A total of 223 patients responded to the Short Form 12 (SF-12) (subjective health status), Maudsley Marital Questionnaire (MMQ-6) (marital quality) and University of California, Los Angeles - Revised (UCLA-R) questionnaires at baseline (pre-CR) and at three months (post-CR) or at 12 months follow-up. Subjective health status is displayed by a physical component summary (PCS) score and a mental component summary (MCS) score. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) analyses were performed to test improvements in subjective health status. Results Changes over time in subjective health status scores were similar between patients with optimal marital quality vs patients with less optimal marital quality and non-lonely patients vs lonely patients. The MCS level at one-year follow-up of both patients with less optimal marital quality and lonely patients was lower compared with a healthy Dutch population (respectively; mean MCS score 47.3 (standard deviation (SD) 10.5); p=0.013 and mean MCS score 46.1 (SD 11.2); p=0.010). Conclusion Both patients with less optimal marital quality and lonely patients did not reach the MCS level of a healthy Dutch population. Therefore, extra care and support should be given to these patients in a CR programme.