Tsuey-Yuan Huang

Comparison of Health-Related Quality of Life Between American and Taiwanese Heart Failure Patients

Few investigators have compared health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in heart failure (HF) patients from different countries. The purposes of this study were to compare HRQOL between American (n = 87) and Taiwanese (n = 88) HF patients and to determine factors associated with HRQOL in both groups. In this cross-sectional survey, HRQOL was measured using the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire. American patients rated their HRQOL worse than Taiwanese patients did. Sociodemographics, disease severity, and symptom severity were associated with HRQOL, accounting for 42.4% of the variance in HRQOL in Americans and 57.3% in Taiwanese. Symptom severity was the most important predictor of HRQOL in both groups. Interventions targeting symptom severity could improve HF patients’ HRQOL.

Moderating Effect of Psychosocial Factors for Dyspnea in Taiwanese and American Heart Failure Patients

Background: Dyspnea is the most common and distressing symptom of heart failure (HF). Evidence from empirical studies has shown that multiple factors apart from pathophysiological changes may influence this symptom. Purpose: This study explored the moderating effect of psychosocial factors between clinical characteristics and dyspnea in patients with HF. To assess the potential effects of cultural background, this study also compared differences in psychosocial factor moderating effects between HF patients in Taiwan and the United States. Methods: We recruited patients with HF from outpatient clinics in Taiwan and the United States. Data were collected at clinics and research centers. Dyspnea was measured using the modified pulmonary function status and dyspnea questionnaire. Psychosocial factors considered were depression, anxiety, perceived control, and perceived social support. These factors were measured using the Brief Symptom Inventory, Revised Control Attitudes Scale, and Multidimensional Scale of Social Support Scale, respectively. Multiple regressions with interaction effect analysis tested the moderator effects across these two groups. Results: Ninety-seven Taiwanese (mean age = 66.2 ± 12.1 years; 76% male; 28% NYHA [New York Heart Association] III/IV) and 96 American (mean age = 61.6 ± 11.7 years; 74% male; 42% NYHA III/IV) patients participated. In Taiwanese patients, only perceived social support (B = .08, p = .034) moderated the relationship between clinical variables and dyspnea. In American patients, depression (B = .75, p = .028) and anxiety (B = .85, p = .041) were moderators of the relationship between clinical status and dyspnea severity. Conclusions/Implications for Practice: Depression, anxiety, and perceived social support moderated the relationship of clinical characteristics with dyspnea in Taiwanese and American HF patients, respectively. Attention to these psychosocial factors may improve dyspnea status in HF patients. Symptom management should include a focus on patients’ psychological distress and social perspectives.

The Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Biofeedback-Assisted Relaxation Therapy in Patients With Heart Failure: A Randomized Control Study

Background Relaxation techniques can reduce sympathetic nervous system activation and stress, potentially improving heart failure patients’ physical and psychological outcomes. Purpose To examine the effects of biofeedback-assisted relaxation (BFAR) therapy in patients with heart failure. Methods A prospective randomized control study was conducted. Participants in the treatment group received BFAR therapy, while participants in the control group received standard of care. Short-term outcomes were physical symptoms and psychosocial variables measured at baseline and 3 months; long-term outcomes were cardiac events and mortality assessed at 12 months. Results Fifty-two heart failure patients participated in the study: 23 (mean age 60.0 ± 13.7 years; 60.9% male; 39.1% New York Heart Association III/IV) in the treatment group and 29 (mean age 59.2 ± 12.2 years; 72.4% male; 48.3% New York Heart Association III/IV) in the control group. Short-term effects of BFAR on outcome variables were not significantly different between treatment and control groups. However, longer event-free survival was found in the treatment group compared with the control group (p = .019). Conclusions/Implications for Practices BFAR therapy is effective to improve cardiac event-free survival of heart failure patients and can be applied to clinical setting.