ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1619449
This article is part of the Research TopicChallenges and Innovations in Healthcare Management and Long-Term Care for an Aging SocietyView all 19 articles
The Mediating Effect of Quality of Life Between Family Support And Advance Care Planning Readiness of Elderly Patients With Chronic Diseases
Provisionally accepted
- 1Wuhan Union Hospital, Wuhan, China
- 2tongji medical college, Wuhan, China
- 3Huangshi Central Hospital, Huangshi, China
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Objective: To investigate the mediating effect of quality of life (QoL) between family support and advance care planning (ACP) readiness among elderly patients with chronic diseases, thereby providing evidence for nursing administrators to strengthen family support and promote ACP preparedness. Methods: From November 2024 to February 2025, a total of 262 elderly patients with chronic diseases were recruited via convenience sampling from seven tertiary hospitals located in Guangdong, Hainan, Sichuan, Heilongjiang, and Hubei provinces. Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, the EuroQoL-5 Dimension (EQ-5D-5L) scale, the Family Support Scale, and the Advance Care Planning Readiness Scale. Results: The median EQ-5D-5L utility score was 0.831 (IQR: 0.640-0.942), the family support score was 12.00 (IQR: 12.00-13.00), and the mean ACP readiness score was 81.97 ± 9.88. Family support was found to be positively correlated with ACP readiness (r=0.515, P<0.01). Similarly, quality of life was also positively associated with ACP readiness (r=0.552, P<0.01). Furthermore, family support exhibited positive correlation with quality of life (r=0.403, P<0.01). Mediation analysis indicated that quality of life partially mediated the interrelationship between family support and ACP readiness, accounting for 25.5% of the total effect. Conclusion: Quality of life plays a mediating role between family support and ACP readiness in elderly patients with chronic diseases. Nursing administrators should prioritize improving quality of life and fostering supportive family environments to enhance ACP preparedness.
Keywords: elderly chronic diseases, family support, Quality of Life, Advance Care Planning, Mediating effect
Received: 28 Apr 2025; Accepted: 30 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lv, Liu, Yang and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xinlian Yang, Wuhan Union Hospital, Wuhan, China
Kai Guo, Huangshi Central Hospital, Huangshi, China
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