Psychological aspects of the quality of life of patients in long-term inpatient care

Aim
The objective of the study was to assess psychological aspects of the quality of life of patients in long-term stationary care.

Material and methods
The research was carried out from December 2018 to February 2019. The study was conducted among 92 patients of the Nursing and Care Institution. The research method was a diagnostic survey, while the research technique was a survey. The research tools were the author's questionnaire and the Beck’s Depression Scale. The results obtained from the questionnaires were subjected to statistical analysis. The differences between the variables were verified using the chi-square independence test and the Kruskal-Wallis test, assuming a significance level of p<0.05.

Results
The occurrence of depression in the respondents was assessed using the Beck Depression Scale. Lack of depression was found in 40.2% of the respondents, mild depression in 45.7% and moderate depression in 14.1%. Analysis of the research showed that the marital status of the respondents significantly affected their incidence of depression. It was found that moderate depression was 38.4% more common (p=0.0409). The most numerous group of respondents were respondents, who often experienced anxiety (80.4%) and irritability (56.5%). The most common situations causing irritability and anxiety in subjects is lack of independence (53.3%), which has a significant impact on the feeling of loneliness among the subjects.

Conclusions
The most common situations causing irritability and anxiety in subjects result from a lack of independence, which affects their sense of loneliness. Subjects who did not spend time among other patients more often felt helpless and confused.