Nursing Care

Biography

Biography: Dr. Chan Keung Sum

Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is a major and escalating public health problem that affects millions of people in both developed and industrialized countries. HF affects patients' functional capacity that leads to considerable psychological distress and low quality of life. The psychological impact of heart failure contributes to patients' feelings of poor self-esteem,  hopelessness, and depression.  Tai Chi Qigong (TCQ), a traditional Chinese health-promoting exercise with low to moderate intensity, is worldwide believed to be beneficial to the cardiac system. Moreover, it embodies a meditative component that may enhance stress management and mood management, as well as provide important psychological benefits for HF patients. The aim of this study attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of a TCQ program in improving the psychological distress in terms of self-esteem,  level of hope and depression. In this single-blind, randomized controlled trial, 195 heart failure patients were recruited from the six medical wards. Subjects were randomly assigned into one of the three groups: intervention group (TCQ), attention-control (information) and control (usual care) group. Data were collected at baseline, four weeks, three months and six months. The outcome measures were Rosenberg's self-esteem Scale, Herth hope index and The Center for Epidemiologic  Studies Depression Scale. Analyses involved three groups pre-test and repeated post-test, within and between subjects tests.The results indicated that no significant difference was found in the demographic data. The results showed in the intervention group reported statistically significant higher scores in self-esteem, and hope as well as lower scores in depressive symptoms than the control groups across the four time periods. To conclude, TCQ is an effective program that could be used for improving the psychological distress in the patients with heart failure in Hong Kong Chinese population.