Associations between sleep quality, fatigue, social isolation, and depressive symptoms in patients with heart failure: A parallel mediation analysis

This study aimed to assess the rate of depressive symptoms and the interrelationships among sleep quality, fatigue, social isolation, and depressive symptoms in patients with heart failure (HF) in China. A cross-sectional study at a general hospital, 300 patients with HF were conveniently sampled from January to March 2024. To measure whether fatigue and social isolation mediated the association between sleep quality and depressive symptoms, descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation, and parallel mediation analyses were conducted via SPSS 26.0. Results showed that 72.3% of the participants had moderate to severe depressive symptoms. Fatigue and social isolation parallelly mediated the relationship between sleep quality and depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the prevention and management of depressive symptoms in HF patients. Future studies need to design and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions that incorporate multiple components on targeting sleep quality, social isolation, and fatigue in patients with HF.