Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Robbert Sanderman.
The 34-item Social Support List developed in The Netherlands combines measures of support satisfaction and support interactions in six subscales plus a total score. The present study was designed to assess the applicability of the list in a different cultural context. Data from 421 American undergraduates were consistent with Dutch findings and support the efficacy of the English language version.
As advances in medical treatment of heart failure (HF) become limited, other factors are being studied to improve outcomes. There is much evidence that supportive social relations have a major impact on health outcomes and that social support is essential for adjustment to illness. This article describes current research on the influence of social support on outcomes in patients with HF. A computerized literature search in Medline, CINAHL, and PsychLit was performed on each of the different outcomes in relation to social support, covering the period 1993 to 2003. Seventeen studies were found that investigated the relationship between social support and different outcome measures in HF. Four studies found clear relationships between social support and rehospitalizations and mortality; the relationship between quality of life and depression was less clear. Up to now, limited research has been done on the impact of social support on outcomes in patients with HF. The available studies suggest that social support has an impact on HF outcomes but further research is necessary before firm conclusions about the nature of these relationships can be reached.
Elderly patients with somatic illness are at increased risk of depression. The authors studied the prevalence and persistence of depressive symptoms during the first year after the events of myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, fall-related injury, and the diagnosis of cancer and their putative pre-event risk factors. The GLAS study contains data from 614 patients who experienced post-baseline myocardial infarction, cancer, heart failure, or fall-related injury of the extremities within 5 years after the baseline assessment. Follow-up was conducted 8 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year after the somatic event. The authors studied the relative importance of 21 baseline risk factors for experiencing significant depressive symptoms during follow-up and the persistence of depression. Depressive symptoms were prevalent in 38.3% of the subjects during the post-event year; in about 19.1%, symptoms were mild. For a majority of patients (67.5%), symptoms persisted until the next assessment. Significant pre-event risk factors were depressive symptoms at baseline, age, smoking, poor general health, poor well-being, and neuroticism. Within the depressed group, only neuroticism was related to the persistence of symptoms. Neuroticism increases the risk of experiencing post-event depressive symptoms and is related to their persistence, which suggests the existence of a depression-prone personality.
OBJECTIVE: The authors tested the hypothesis that elderly subjects with premorbid depressive symptoms are at increased risk of poor adjustment after a somatic event. METHODS: The GLAS study contains a baseline assessment and a follow-up of subjects who experienced post-baseline acute myocardial infarction, cancer, congestive heart failure, or fall-related injury of the extremities within 5 years after baseline assessment. Follow-up was conducted at 8 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year after the somatic event. Of a baseline sample of 5,279 elderly subjects (57 and older), 1,124 subjects who experienced one of the specified events were contacted, and sufficient follow-up data were obtained from 558 subjects. Authors analyzed the course of self-reported physical, role, and social functioning, and general health and well-being in subjects without baseline limitations. Patients with poor adjustment after the event were compared with patients with good adjustment on baseline depressive symptoms. They used logistic-regression analysis, controlling for several confounders. RESULTS: In multivariate analyses, pre-event depressive symptoms were associated with an increased risk of poor adjustment in terms of social and role functioning, well-being, and general health, but not physical functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Elderly persons living in the community reporting depressive symptoms are at increased risk of poor psychosocial adjustment after a somatic event. Each reported baseline depressive symptom was associated with an increased risk of chronic decline; this finding stresses the importance of detecting and treating depression in community-living elderly persons.