Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Heart failure can influence all aspects of patients' health despite the improvement in its treatment. Different factors might affect the quality of life for patients with heart failure. These factors include but are not limited to: age, gender, ejection fraction, culture, and social support. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine differences in quality of life and perceived social support in patients with heart failure from Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

MATERIALS & METHODS: A cross-sectional correlational design was used to test the objective of this study. A total of 202 patients were recruited from outpatient clinics of three hospitals in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through the SF-36 and the MOS-SSS questionnaires.

RESULTS: The results of this study demonstrated that Jordanian patients with heart failure reported significantly greater social support in all MOS-SSS subscales than the Saudi patients except for the tangible support. The Saudi patients reported significantly more mental impairment (p ˂ .01) and lower level of fatigue (p ˂ .01) than the Jordanian patients.

CONCLUSIONS: It is important to assess and identify physical and psychological resources available for patients at home and in the community to improve their quality of life.

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