Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) reporting lower levels of social support experience worse health outcomes, a new Yale-led study finds.
Social support is thought to bolster cardiovascular health by facilitating health-promoting behaviours and acting as a buffer against the impacts of stress on the heart. A team led by Santiago Callegari of the Yale Department of Internal Medicine (Yale University, New Haven, USA) used questionnaires to assess perceived social support (ENRICHD Social Support Inventory), PAD-specific health status (Peripheral Artery Disease Questionnaire), and general health status (EuroQOL Visual Analog Scale) for 949 patients at baseline and 12 months later.
For the 18.2% of respondents reporting low social support, researchers found scores more than seven points lower on average on both the Peripheral Artery Disease Questionnaire and the EuroQOL Visual Analog Scale, indicating significantly poorer outcomes in PAD-specific and general health metrics. The association between low social support and poorer outcomes remained strong even when adjusting for factors including stress, depression, and socioeconomic status.
The research team says their work highlights the importance of psychosocial factors, like social support and depression, in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. “The focus has been on specific devices to open blockages or do bypasses,” says corresponding author Carlos Mena-Hurtado, associate professor of medicine (cardiology) at Yale. “This study shows that it is time to see patients with PAD in a multidimensional way, such that a multidisciplinary team needs to get involved in their management.”
