Impact of social support and religiosity/spirituality on recovery from acute cardiac events and heart surgery in a Swiss study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of social support and religiosity/spirituality (R/S) on the recovery from an acute cardiac event or cardiac surgery during cardiac rehabilitation (CR). The study has a prospective design. A convenience sample of 159 patients participating in a CR program were enrolled. Religiosity/spirituality, social support, anxiety, depression, health related quality of life (QoL) and exercise capacity (6-min walk test, cycle ergometer test) were assessed. Social support was significantly associated with less anxiety ( Social support may be a protective factor against depression in the recovery from cardiac events or surgery. Neither social support nor R/S had a significant impact on the course of the 3-week CR program.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.