Predictors of heart-focused anxiety in patients with stable heart failure

Comparing Patient and Provider Experiences with Atrial Fibrillation to Highlight Gaps and Opportunities for Improving Care

BACKGROUND

Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common abnormal heart rhythm, places a considerable burden on patients, providers, and the US healthcare system.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this qualitative study was to compare patients' and providers' interpretations and responses to AF symptoms and to identify where treatment can be improved to better address patient needs and well-being.

DESIGN

Qualitative design using focus groups with patients (3 groups) and providers (3 groups).

PARTICIPANTS

Patients with physician-confirmed AF (n=29) and cardiologists, primary care physicians, and cardiac nurses (n=24).

APPROACH

Focus groups elicited patient and provider perspectives regarding the symptom experience of AF, treatment goals, and gaps in care. Patient and provider transcripts were analyzed separately, using a thematic content analysis approach, and then compared.

KEY RESULTS

While patients and providers described similar AF symptoms, patients' illness experiences included a wider range of symptoms that elicited anxiety and impacted quality of life (QOL) across many biopsychosocial domains. Patients and providers prioritized different treatment goals. Providers tended to focus on controlling symptoms congruent with objective findings, minimizing stroke risk, and restoring sinus rhythm. Patients focused on improving QOL by reducing medication use or procedures. Both patients and providers struggled with patients' cardiac-related anxiety. Patients expressed an unmet need for education and support.

CONCLUSION

Patients with AF experience a range of symptoms and QOL issues. While guidelines recommend shared-decision making, discordance between patient and provider perspectives on the importance, priority, and impact of patients' perceived AF symptoms and consequent cardiac anxiety may result in differing treatment priorities. Starting from a perspective that contextualizes AF in the broader context of patients' lives, prioritizes QOL, and addresses symptom-specific anxiety as a prime concern may better address patients' unmet needs.

Fear of movement and its associated psychosocial factors in heart failure patients: A cross-sectional study

AIMS

Fear of movement is a significant obstacle to daily activities, which may lead to adverse outcomes in patients with heart failure. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of fear of movement and to identify psychosocial factors associated with fear of movement in heart failure patients.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In this cross-sectional study, a total of 305 heart failure patients were recruited from three cardiovascular units of a university hospital. Self-reported questionnaires were used to measure fear of movement, cardiac anxiety, depressive symptoms, subjective social status, education, monthly income, and employment status. The results showed that 178 (58.4%) patients were accompanied with fear of movement. Hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that scores for cardiac anxiety (β=0.254, p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (β=0.308, p < 0.001), as well as being employed (β=0.186, p < 0.001) were positively associated with fear of movement score, while the score for subjective social status (β=-0.101, p = 0.038) was negatively associated with fear of movement score. The four independent variables accounted for 30.3% of the variance in fear of movement.

CONCLUSIONS

Fear of movement is common in patients with heart failure. Cardiac anxiety, depressive symptoms, subjective social status, and employment status were associated with patients' fear of movement. This indicates that measures should be taken to screen and manage patients' fear of movement. Furthermore, alleviating cardiac anxiety and depressive symptoms may be important to consider in relieving fear of movement in heart failure patients, especially for those who are employed and with low subjective social status.

Heart-Focused Anxiety, General Anxiety, Depression and Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Undergoing Pulmonary Vein Isolation

(1) Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with anxiety, depression, and chronic stress, and vice versa. The purpose of this study was to evaluate potential effects of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) on psychological factors. (2) Methods: Psychological assessment was performed before PVI as well as after six months. (3) Results: A total of 118 patients [age 64 ± 9 years, 69% male, left ventricular ejection fraction 57 ± 8%, 56% paroxysmal AF] undergoing PVI were included. After PVI, significant improvements were observed in the mean total heart-focused anxiety (HFA) score, as well as in the Cardiac Anxiety Questionnaire (CAQ) sub-scores: HFA attention, HFA fear, and HFA avoidance scores. Subgroup analyses showed an association of improvement with freedom of documented AF recurrence. Mean scores of general anxiety and depression evaluated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) decreased significantly after PVI in all subgroups regardless of AF recurrence. Further, both physical and mental composite scores of the Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) increased significantly from baseline. (4) Conclusions: PVI results in a significant reduction in HFA. Improvements in general anxiety and depressive symptoms did not seem to be related only to rhythm control per se. Therefore, CAQ may represent a more specific evaluation tool as HADS in patients with AF.

Heart-Focused Anxiety Affects Behavioral Cardiac Risk Factors and Quality of Life: A Follow-Up Study Using a Psycho-Cardiological Rehabilitation Concept

BACKGROUND

Heart-focused anxiety (HFA) raises the risk for adverse outcomes in patients with heart disease. Despite this great importance, it is rarely assessed in clinical practice. Three dimensions are commonly defined in the context of HFA: heart-related fear, avoidance, and attention. The impact of these aspects on cardiac risk factors is essentially unclear. In this study, we investigated the relationship between HFA and behavioral cardiac risk factors as well as health-related quality of life (HRQoL), which represent important treatment outcomes of inpatient psycho-cardiological rehabilitation.

METHODS

A prospective observational design was used to examine 238 rehabilitation inpatients with comorbidity of cardiac disease and psychiatric disorder. We assessed HFA using the Cardiac Anxiety Questionnaire (CAQ), HRQoL using the SF-12 Health Survey, exercise capacity using the 6-minute walk test, and smoking behavior, respectively at admission (t0) and discharge (t1). Physical activity was assessed at t0 and in a follow-up survey 6 months after discharge (t2) using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Multiple regression models were used to analyze the predictive value of HFA for the outcome variables at t0, t1, and t2, adjusted for socio-demographic factors and depression. Predictive values for changes over time were evaluated by the regressor variable approach.

RESULTS

Exercise capacity and physical activity were negatively predicted by baseline heart-related avoidance, both cross-sectionally and prospectively. Avoidance at t1 also negatively predicted long-term changes over time in physical activity at t2. Total HFA and the subcomponent avoidance negatively predicted physical HRQoL both cross-sectionally and prospectively. Mental HRQoL was cross-sectionally predicted by heart-focused attention at t0, and prospectively predicted by total HFA and by avoidance. Regarding changes in the course of rehabilitation, baseline avoidance negatively predicted improvement in physical HRQoL during rehabilitation. Concerning smoking behavior, no associations with HFA were found.

CONCLUSIONS

HFA is a relevant inhibiting factor for the achievement of therapy goals in psycho-cardiological rehabilitation such as health behavior and HRQoL. Heart-related avoidance in particular, has a negative impact on exercise capacity, physical activity, and self-reported physical health. Its prospective negative predictive value for physical activity and physical health underlines the relevance of HFA for psycho-cardiological interventions.

Changes in quality of life, depression, general anxiety, and heart-focused anxiety after defibrillator implantation

Aims

The Anxiety‐CHF (Anxiety in patients with Chronic Heart Failure) study investigated heart‐focused anxiety (HFA, with the dimensions fear, attention, and avoidance of physical activity), general anxiety, depression, and quality of life (QoL) in patients with heart failure. Psychological measures were assessed before and up to 2 years after the implantation of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) with or without cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT‐D).

Methods and results

One hundred thirty‐two patients were enrolled in this monocentric prospective study (44/88 CRT‐D/ICD, mean age 61 ± 14 years, mean left ventricular ejection fraction 31 ± 9%, and 29% women). Psychological assessment was performed before device implantation as well as after 5, 12, and 24 months. After device implantation, mean total HFA, HFA‐fear, HFA‐attention, general anxiety, and QoL improved significantly. Depression and HFA‐related avoidance of physical activity did not change. CRT‐D patients compared with ICD recipients and women compared with men reported worse QoL at baseline. Younger patients (<median of 63 years) had higher levels of general anxiety and lower levels of HFA‐avoidance at baseline than older patients. After 24 months, groups no longer differed from each other on these scores. Patients with a history of shock or anti‐tachycardia pacing (shock/ATP; N = 19) reported no improvements in psychological measures and had significantly higher total HFA and HFA‐avoidance levels after 2 years than participants without shock/ATP.

Conclusions

Anxiety and QoL improved after device implantation, and depression and HFA‐avoidance remained unchanged. HFA may be more pronounced after shock/ATP. Psychological counselling in these patients to reduce HFA and increase physical activity should be considered.