Levels of stress and dispositional optimism among patients hospitalized in cardiology departments

Introduction: In cardiovascular diseases attention is drawn to the importance of the impact of the individual’s personal resources in coping with stress related to adaptation to the disease. One of them is dispositional optimism, the essence of which is positive perception of the disease situation. Aim of the research: To define the connection between the level of stress and dispositional optimism among people with cardiovascular disease. Material and methods: The study was conducted on a group of 104 patients hospitalized in cardiology units. The self- designed questionnaire, the Scale of Perceived Stress – PSS-10, and the Life Orientation Test-Revised – LOT-R were used to carry out the study. Results: In 89.42% of investigated patients the level of experienced stress was defined as high. The most stressful predictors during hospitalization were related to fear of a sudden attack of the disease and unexpected hospitalization (61.54%), chronic fatigue (56.73%), lack of psychological support (50.96%), depressed mood (50.96%), maintaining a diet (48.08%), and limit- ing physical activity (48.08%). The studied group had an extremely pessimistic approach (57.69%). There was a connection between the level of stress and dispositional optimism among members of the tested group ( p < 0.001). Conclusions: The results of the study indicate the need for involvement of psychological support of hospitalized patients on the impact of health and the effectiveness of attitude to disease. Special attention should be paid to personal resources of patients, especially dispositional optimism.