چکیده (انگلیسی):

Background:It is not well established how psychosocial factors like social support and depression affect health-related
quality of life in multimorbid and elderly patients. We investigated whether depressive mood mediates the influence of
social support on health-related quality of life.
Methods:Cross-sectional data of 3,189 multimorbid patients from the baseline assessment of the German MultiCare
cohort study were used. Mediation was tested using the approach described by Baron and Kenny based on multiple
linear regression, and controlling for socioeconomic variables and burden of multimorbidity.
Results:Mediation analyses confirmed that depressive mood mediates the influence of social support on health-related
quality of life (Sobel’s p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression showed that the influence of depressive mood (β=−0.341,
p < 0.01) on health-related quality of life is greater than the influence of multimorbidity (β=−0.234, p < 0.01).
Conclusion:Social support influences health-related quality of life, but this association is stronglymediatedbydepressive
mood. Depression should be taken into consideration in research on multimorbidity, and clinicians should be aware of its
importance when caring for multimorbid patients.
Trial registration:ISRCTN89818205