How does illness severity influence health satisfaction in patients with cardiovascular disease? The mediating role of illness perception and self-efficacy beliefs

The importance of psychological factors in improving conditions of cardiovascular disease-CVD patients is stressed by the guidelines for their prevention and rehabilitation, but very little is known on the impact of illness severity on patients’ well-being, and on the psychosocial variables that may mediate this association. Aim of this study was to investigate the role of illness representations-IR and self-efficacy beliefs-SE on the relationship between illness severity and healthsatisfaction-HS in CVD patients undergoing rehabilitation. Seventy-five patients (80% men; mean age=65.44, SD=10.20) were enrolled. Illness severity was measured in terms of left ventricular ejection fraction-LVEF; psychological factors were assessed at the beginning-T1 and at the end of the rehabilitation-T2. Results from path analyses showed that the relationships among LVEF and HS at T1 and T2 were partially mediated by IR and SE (X²(1)=0.21, p=n.s.). Findings underlined the importance of working on IR and SE to improve well-being in CVD patients.