The Interplay Between Physical Symptoms, Benefit Finding, Patient Activation, Social Support, Family Function, and Hope in Patients With Heart Failure: A Network Analysis

BACKGROUND: Hope plays an important role in alleviating psychological distress in patients with chronic diseases. However, research on the associative mechanisms between hope and its related factors in patients with heart failure is limited. OBJECTIVE: In this study, our aim was to identify the central nodes within the whole network of hope and explore the factors associated with hope in patients with heart failure. METHODS: A total of 240 inpatients with heart failure were recruited using convenience sampling. Hope, physical symptoms, benefit finding, patient activation, social support, and family function were assessed by self-reported questionnaires. A Gaussian graphical model was employed to examine the associations among the variables. RESULTS: Temporality and future was the central and influential node within the hope network, which exhibited the highest strength and expected influence (strength = 0.96, expected influence = 0.96). In addition, physical symptoms were negatively associated with positive readiness and expectancy. Family function was positively associated with positive readiness and expectancy, and interconnectedness. Benefit finding, patient activation, and social support were positively associated with all dimensions of hope. CONCLUSIONS: Temporality and future dimension of hope emerged as a central node in the entire network of hope, indicating that as the most important component of hope, greater attention should be paid to it. Moreover, physical symptoms, benefit finding, patient activation, social support, and family function are contributors to hope in patients with heart failure. Therefore, interventions targeting these factors may be conducive to enhancing hope in patients with heart failure.