Varying Psychological Stress Among Rwandan Patients with Chronic Diseases.

BACKGROUND

While psychological stress cannot be dissociated from chronic diseases, the extent to which it impacts the management of chronic diseases is poorly understood. This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence and impact of psychological stress among Rwandan patients with chronic diseases, particularly hypertension, heart failure, malignancies, diabetes, and kidney failure.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted among internal medicine patients receiving treatment for chronic diseases at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (n = 81) and the University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB) (n = 78) between May 1 and June 30, 2024.

RESULTS

There was a very high prevalence of psychological stress (91.8%) among Rwandan patients with various forms of chronic diseases. Despite the regular monitoring of their disease progression by their healthcare providers (92.4%) and compliance with their medication (89.9%) and dietary (89.3%) regimens, many of them still experienced frequent complications (96.8%) and worsening outcomes (95.5%), though there was an improvement in symptoms (94.3%). Furthermore, there was a weak relationship between the severity of psychological stress experienced by patients with chronic diseases and their treatment outcomes. Finally, patients with heart failure (<0.001), hypertension (<0.001), diabetes (<0.001), and malignancies (<0.001) experienced higher levels of psychological stress.

CONCLUSION

Hypertension, heart failure, malignancies, and diabetes, but not kidney failure, predict psychological stress among Rwandan patients.