Abstract
Depression is associated with increased medical morbidity and mortality among patients with chronic medical illnesses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychosocial predictors of depression among patients diagnosed with chronic illnesses in Jordan. A cross sectional survey using 806 patients diagnosed with chronic illnesses has been used to collect data in regards to depressive symptoms, psychological distress, coping, optimism, life satisfaction, and perceived social support. 27.5% of the patients reported that they had moderate to severe depressive symptoms, and about 31% of them had mild level of depression. Psychological distress, perceived social support from family, life satisfaction and optimism were significant predictors of depressive symptoms (R2 = .29; F 11, 803 = 29.7, p < .001). Male and female patients were significantly different in their depressive scores (t = -2.57, p = .01). Implication for clinical practice and research are discussed.
Highlights
Chronic illness is becoming the most life devastating health problem and cause of death around the world
Regarding differences in depressive symptoms in relation to patients’ medical diagnoses, the analysis showed that 21.6% (n = 24) of those diagnosed with pulmonary diseases had moderate to severe depressive symptoms, while 29.3 (n = 48) of those with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), 47.7% (n = 40) of those diagnosed with cancer, 27.8% (n = 28) of those diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, 16.7% (n = 27) of those diagnosed with diabetes, and 36.1% (n = 43) for those who have more than one of the listed chronic disease
Chronic physical health problems are the main cause for disability (Mathers & Loncar, 2005), and depression is associated with increased medical morbidity, mortality, and risk for complications among patients with chronic medical illnesses (Freedland et al, 2003; De Groot et al, 2000)
Summary
Chronic illness is becoming the most life devastating health problem and cause of death around the world. The literature showed that treatment of depression had positive outcome on patients’ prognosis and quality of life, and that depressed mood lowered the force needed to cope with the chronic diseases, decreased tolerability of physical symptoms, and increased psychosocial disturbances (Frasure-Smith & Lespérance, 2006). Previous studies show that there is a relationship between difficulties in coping mechanisms, perceived social support and the development of depression among patients with chronic illnesses (Zhang, Chen, & Chen, 2008) This infers that exploring factors that predict depression among patients with chronic illness will enable addressing the factors that possibly affect patients’ physical and psychological condition. The specific aims are: To examine prediction power of stress, social support, life satisfaction, optimism and coping on depressive symptoms among patients with chronic illnesses in Jordan controlling for demographic and personal characteristics. The specific aims are: To examine prediction power of stress, social support, life satisfaction, optimism and coping on depressive symptoms among patients with chronic illnesses in Jordan controlling for demographic and personal characteristics. To identify the differences of depressive symptoms of patients with chronic illnesses in Jordan in relation to demographic and personal characteristics: age, gender, working status, and medical diagnosis
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