Oct. 12, 2013 — Psychological interventions halve deaths and cardiovascular events in heart disease patients, according to research from Athens, Greece, presented at the Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013.
The Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013 is the annual meeting of the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). It takes place 12-14 October in Madrid, Spain.
Dr Zoi Aggelopoulou, a nurse and one of the study authors, said: "The nurses on our coronary care unit observed that patients were less likely to have another heart attack, die, or return to hospital when we talked to them about their treatment, played music for them or helped religious patients to say prayers. It made us think that coronary heart disease is not just physical but also has a psychological component."
She added: "We wanted to find out if others had observed the same thing, and whether psychological support had a real impact on the outcomes of patients with coronary heart disease."
The current study was a meta-analysis of 9 randomized controlled trials. The researchers evaluated whether psychological interventions could improve outcomes of patients with coronary heart disease when combined with a conventional rehabilitation programme.
The researchers found that the addition of psychological interventions reduced mortality and cardiovascular events by 55% after 2 years or more (relative risk [RR]=0.45, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.37-0.54, p
The Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013 is the annual meeting of the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). It takes place 12-14 October in Madrid, Spain.
Dr Zoi Aggelopoulou, a nurse and one of the study authors, said: "The nurses on our coronary care unit observed that patients were less likely to have another heart attack, die, or return to hospital when we talked to them about their treatment, played music for them or helped religious patients to say prayers. It made us think that coronary heart disease is not just physical but also has a psychological component."
She added: "We wanted to find out if others had observed the same thing, and whether psychological support had a real impact on the outcomes of patients with coronary heart disease."
The current study was a meta-analysis of 9 randomized controlled trials. The researchers evaluated whether psychological interventions could improve outcomes of patients with coronary heart disease when combined with a conventional rehabilitation programme.
The researchers found that the addition of psychological interventions reduced mortality and cardiovascular events by 55% after 2 years or more (relative risk [RR]=0.45, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.37-0.54, p