The mediating role of lifestyle in the relationship between coping strategies and quality of life in cardiovascular patients: A path analysis study

Cardiovascular disease, as a chronic and debilitating physical condition, is one of the most common causes of death. The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of lifestyle in the relationship between coping strategies and quality of life in cardiovascular patients.

The present study was descriptive-correlational and cross-sectional studies. The statistical population of the present study includes all cardiovascular patients in Tehran in 2019, of which 303 people were selected as the sample by the purposeful sampling method. Data collection tools included a Ways of Copying Questionnaire, a Health- Promoting Lifestyle Profile, and a Quality of Life Scale. Pearson correlation coefficient and path analysis with Amos software were used to analyze the data.

The results showed that lifestyle also played a mediating role in relation to quality of life coping strategies (P <0.01). Lifestyle can explain 28% of the variance of physical health, 43% of mental health and 20% of social relationships. The problem-focused strategy was able to explain 11% of the variance of physical health and 24% of social relationships. The emotion-focused strategy was able to explain 90% of the variance of mental health and 26% of the variance of environmental health.

According to the results, in cardiovascular patients, coping strategies can change the quality of life by influencing lifestyle. In other words, in these patients, problem- focused coping strategies through healthy lifestyle improvements can lead to improved quality of life.