OBJECTIVE: We compared, in a prospective study on patients with acute coronary syndrome, the predictive effect of a depression or anxiety diagnosis and of emotion-focused, problem-focused and dysfunctional coping strategies, as detected early after an acute event, on patients' left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), a reliable prognostic index of disease severity, at a three-month follow up. METHODS: Ninety consecutive patients following an acute coronary syndrome event (83.3% men; mean age 56.9 ± 8.9 years) were included in the study. Demographic and clinical characteristics, presence of depression and anxiety disorders (MINI), and active use of emotion-focused, problem-focused and dysfunctional coping strategies (Brief Cope) were assessed at the time of enrolment. LVEF at a three-month follow up was used as the outcome measure. RESULTS: The medical predictors of LVEF accounted for 10.6% of the variance of LVEF at follow up. Emotion-focused coping strategies significantly contributed for an additional 6.1%, while the presence of a depression and/or anxiety disorder was not a significant predictor of LVEF at follow up, nor were dysfunctional and problem-focused coping strategies. CONCLUSION: Emotion-focused coping strategies at the time of the cardiac event were the only reliable psychological predictor of disease severity at a three-month follow up. These findings hint to the possibility that variables such as emotional coping may be a fruitful target for psychological treatments directed at cardiac patients in primary care settings.
OBJECTIVE: We compared, in a prospective study on patients with acute coronary syndrome, the predictive effect of a depression or anxiety diagnosis and of emotion-focused, problem-focused and dysfunctional coping strategies, as detected early after an acute event, on patients' left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), a reliable prognostic index of disease severity, at a three-month follow up. METHODS: Ninety consecutive patients following an acute coronary syndrome event (83.3% men; mean age 56.9 ± 8.9 years) were included in the study. Demographic and clinical characteristics, presence of depression and anxiety disorders (MINI), and active use of emotion-focused, problem-focused and dysfunctional coping strategies (Brief Cope) were assessed at the time of enrolment. LVEF at a three-month follow up was used as the outcome measure. RESULTS: The medical predictors of LVEF accounted for 10.6% of the variance of LVEF at follow up. Emotion-focused coping strategies significantly contributed for an additional 6.1%, while the presence of a depression and/or anxiety disorder was not a significant predictor of LVEF at follow up, nor were dysfunctional and problem-focused coping strategies. CONCLUSION: Emotion-focused coping strategies at the time of the cardiac event were the only reliable psychological predictor of disease severity at a three-month follow up. These findings hint to the possibility that variables such as emotional coping may be a fruitful target for psychological treatments directed at cardiac patients in primary care settings.
Authors: Daniel W Fisher; Ye Han; Kyle A Lyman; Robert J Heuermann; Linda A Bean; Natividad Ybarra; Kendall M Foote; Hongxin Dong; Daniel A Nicholson; Dane M Chetkovich Journal: J Neurochem Date: 2018-08-09 Impact factor: 5.372
Authors: Masoumeh Pourfallahi; Mohammad Gholami; Mohammad Javad Tarrahi; Tahereh Toulabi; Parastou Kordestani Moghadam Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2019-05-07 Impact factor: 3.603