A study published in , found that heart patients who participated in group therapy experienced less psychological distress and had a better quality of life. European Heart Journal. After one year, patients had a 57% lower risk of being readmitted for heart problems.
“The findings indicate that all patients participating in cardiac rehabilitation should be screened for psychological distress and offered [cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)] If necessary. People in the treatment group said it was reassuring to be with others coping with the same issues.
Psychological symptoms, such as palpitations and chest discomfort, may reflect cardiac symptoms. This can cause patients a lot of pain and affect their ability to live a higher quality of life, she explains Holdgaard.
“Approximately 20% of all heart patients show signs of distress, rising to a third of employed patients,” Holdgaard said in a press release.
Cardiac patients have historically sought help from therapists and psychologists, but it is difficult to use in their daily lives. It was to evaluate the effect. The team studied 147 working elderly heart patients suffering from emotional distress, according to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).
Participants were randomly divided into two groups. The first group received her CBT and cardiac rehabilitation. This included exercise, medication adjustments, and education on modifiable risk factors such as diet, smoking, physical activity, weight, blood sugar, and blood pressure, while the control group received cardiac rehabilitation only. .
The CBT group participated in five 2-hour CBT sessions led by a trained nurse. Each CBT session included a group of 3-4 patients. Nurses led guided discussions about participants’ personal values, anxiety and coping strategies, behaviors and consequences, coping with concerns, and learning how to deal with future stressors.
Data show that interventions for patients with heart disease and emotional distress are effective.[ing] The importance of individualizing rehabilitation programs to meet the needs of different patient groups,” said Christi Deton, professor at the University of Cambridge, UK and spokesperson for the European Heart Journal, in a press release.
CBT has also been shown to improve quality of life in the first six months of life, and researchers found CBT to be the most preferred type of cardiac rehabilitation among participants. Moreover, HADS model scores were significantly higher in his CBT group compared with the control group (8 and 4.1, respectively). In addition, significant improvements in anxiety and depressive symptoms were sustained at 6-month follow-up.
“This study is important for several reasons. [and] The results of this and other studies demonstrate that group CBT is a promising intervention for patients with cardiovascular disease and distress,” Deton said in a press release.
reference
European College of Cardiology. Talk therapy reduces anxiety and depression in working-age heart patients. news release. January 17, 2023. Accessed January 18, 2023. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/976724
