Social anxiety, self‐esteem and quality of life among hypertensive patients during COVID‐19 local epidemic in China: A mediation analysis.

Objectives: To explore the mediating role of self‐esteem in social anxiety and QoL during the COVID‐19 local epidemic in China. Design: A cross‐sectional survey. Methods: This study conveniently selected 344 hypertensive patients from a Grade‐A tertiary hospital in Wuhu, Anhui Province, as the study population. Participants completed the demographic questionnaire, the social phobia inventory, the self‐esteem scale and the 36‐item short‐form health survey. Results: Social anxiety, self‐esteem and QoL were significantly correlated with each other. Social anxiety showed no direct effect on QoL (β = 0.011, p > 0.05). Social anxiety showed an indirect effect on QoL (β = −0.248, p < 0.001). Self‐esteem fully mediated the association between social anxiety and QoL in hypertensive patients. Patient or Public Contribution: Hypertensive patients in this study were participants during the data collection process. Nursing staff from the cardiology department at the hospital of a hospital in Wuhu City, Anhui Province assisted in the recruitment phase of the data collection process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]