Monitoring treatment expectations in patients with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator using the EXPECT-ICD scale

Role of expectations in clinical outcomes after deep brain stimulation in patients with Parkinson's disease: a systematic review

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a well-established treatment that significantly improves the motor symptoms of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD); however, patients may experience post-operative psychological distress and social maladjustments. This phenomenon has been shown to be related to patients' pre-operative cognitive representations, such as expectations. In this systematic review, we discuss the findings on the role of the expectations of patients with PD regarding the clinical outcomes of DBS to identify areas of intervention to improve pre-operative patient education and promote successful post-operative psychosocial adjustment. PubMed was searched for relevant articles published up to 16 January 2023. Of the 84 identified records, 10 articles focusing on the treatment expectations of patients with PD undergoing DBS were included in this review. The selected studies were conducted among cohorts of patients with different DBS targets, among which the most common was the bilateral subthalamic nucleus. Overall, the data showed that patients' expectations contribute to treatment efficacy. Experiments investigating the placebo effect itself have shown clinical improvement after the induction of positive therapeutic expectations; conversely, unrealistic treatment expectations can affect patient satisfaction after surgery, clinical outcomes, and subjective well-being. This review highlights the need for routine clinical practice to better investigate and manage patients' pre-operative expectations, as well as multidisciplinary education to improve patient satisfaction and psychosocial adjustment after DBS.

Patient-reported outcome measures on mental health and psychosocial factors in patients with Brugada syndrome

AIMS

Brugada syndrome (BrS) is a hereditary arrhythmic disease, associated with sudden cardiac death. To date, little is known about the psychosocial correlates and impacts associated with this disease. The aim of this study was to assess a set of patient-reported psychosocial outcomes, to better profile these patients, and to propose a tailored psychosocial care.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Patients were recruited at the European reference Centre for BrS at Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Belgium. Recruitment was undertaken in two phases: phase 1 (retrospective), patients with confirmed BrS, and phase 2 (prospective), patients referred for ajmaline testing who had an either positive or negative diagnosis. BrS patients were compared to controls from the general population. Two hundred and nine questionnaires were analysed (144 retrospective and 65 prospective). Collected patient-reported outcomes were on mental health (12 item General Health Questionnaire; GHQ-12), social support (Oslo Social Support Scale), health-related quality of life, presence of Type-D personality (Type-D Scale; DS14), coping styles (Brief-COPE), and personality dimensions (Ten Item Personality Inventory). Results showed higher mental distress (GHQ-12) in BrS patients (2.53 ± 3.03) than in the general population (P < 0.001) and higher prevalence (32.7%) of Type D personality (P < 0.001) in patients with confirmed Brugada syndrome (BrS +). A strong correlation was found in the BrS + group (0.611, P < 0.001) between DS14 negative affectivity subscale and mental distress (GHQ-12).

CONCLUSION

Mental distress and type D personality are significantly more common in BrS patients compared to the general population. This clearly illustrates the necessity to include mental health screening and care as standard for BrS.

Development and psychometric validation of the hospitalized patients' expectations for treatment scalepatient version

Objectives

A general expectation measurement of inpatients across wards is needed in the patient safety management systems of general hospitals. This study developed and psychometrically validated a new scale fulfilling the requirements above: the Hospitalized Patients' Expectations for Treatment Scale-Patient version (HOPE-P).

Methods

A total of 35 experts and ten inpatients were interviewed during the formulation of the HOPE-P scale, which was initially designed with three dimensions: doctor-patient communication expectations, treatment outcome expectations, and disease management expectancy. We recruited 210 inpatients from a general hospital in China and explored the reliability, validity, and psychometric characteristics of the questionnaire. Item analysis, construct validity, internal consistency and 7-day test-retest reliability analysis were applied.

Results

Exploratory and confirmatory analyses supported a 2-dimension (doctor-patient communication expectation and treatment outcome expectation) structure with satisfactory model fit parameters (root mean square residual (RMR) = 0.035, a root-mean-square-error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.072, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.984, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.970). Item analysis revealed an appropriate item design (r = 0.573-0.820). The scale exhibited good internal consistency, with Cronbach's α of 0.893, 0.761, and 0.919 for the overall scale, the doctor-patient communication expectation subscale, and the treatment outcome expectation subscale, respectively. The 7-day test-retest reliability was 0.782 (p < .001).

Conclusion

Our results indicated that the HOPE-P is a reliable and valid assessment tool to measure the expectations of general hospital inpatients, with a strong capacity to recognize patients' expectations regarding doctor-patient communication and treatment outcomes.

Self-reported health without clinically measurable benefits among adult users of multivitamin and multimineral supplements: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

Multiple clinical trials fail to identify clinically measurable health benefits of daily multivitamin and multimineral (MVM) consumption in the general adult population. Understanding the determinants of widespread use of MVMs may guide efforts to better educate the public about effective nutritional practices. The objective of this study was to compare self-reported and clinically measurable health outcomes among MVM users and non-users in a large, nationally representative adult civilian non-institutionalised population in the USA surveyed on the use of complementary health practices.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional analysis of the effect of MVM consumption on self-reported overall health and clinically measurable health outcomes.

PARTICIPANTS

Adult MVM users and non-users from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey (n=21 603).

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Five psychological, physical, and functional health outcomes: (1) self-rated health status, (2) needing help with routine needs, (3) history of 10 chronic diseases, (4) presence of 19 health conditions in the past 12 months, and (5) Kessler 6-Item (K6) Psychological Distress Scale to measure non-specific psychological distress in the past month.

RESULTS

Among 4933 adult MVM users and 16 670 adult non-users, MVM users self-reported 30% better overall health than non-users (adjusted OR 1.31; 95% CI 1.17 to 1.46; false discovery rate adjusted p<0.001). There were no differences between MVM users and non-users in history of 10 chronic diseases, number of present health conditions, severity of current psychological distress on the K6 Scale and rates of needing help with daily activities. No effect modification was observed after stratification by sex, education, and race.

CONCLUSIONS

MVM users self-reported better overall health despite no apparent differences in clinically measurable health outcomes. These results suggest that widespread use of multivitamins in adults may be a result of individuals' positive expectation that multivitamin use leads to better health outcomes or a self-selection bias in which MVM users intrinsically harbour more positive views regarding their health.

Biopsychosocial Characteristics of Patients With Chronic Pain Expecting Different Levels of Pain Relief in the Context of Multidisciplinary Treatments

OBJECTIVES

Evidence suggests that patients' expectations predict chronic pain treatment outcomes. Although patients vary in terms of expected pain relief, little is known about individual factors related to such variations. This study aims to investigate how patients with various levels of pain relief expectations differ on the basis of biopsychosocial baseline characteristics in the context of multidisciplinary chronic pain treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data from 3110 individuals with chronic pain attending one of 3 multidisciplinary pain treatment centers were considered. Participants completed a self-reported measure of pain relief expectations and provided information pertaining to biological, psychological, and social variables.

RESULTS

A backward stepwise regression helped identify biopsychosocial variables that significantly predicted expected pain relief. Subsequent analyses suggest that patients reporting low, moderate, high, and very high expectations of pain relief differed significantly in terms of pain duration and depressive symptoms. Significant between-group differences were also found with regard to overall physical health, age, sex, and ethnicity.

DISCUSSION

Identifying characteristics related to different levels of pain relief expectations is a fundamental step in generating a more comprehensive understanding of how expectations can be of use in the successful management of chronic pain conditions.

Development of the generic, multidimensional Treatment Expectation Questionnaire (TEX-Q) through systematic literature review, expert surveys and qualitative interviews

OBJECTIVE

Patients' expectations-as a central mechanism of placebo and nocebo effects-are an important predictor of health outcomes. However, the lack of a way to assess expectations across different settings restricts progress in understanding the role of expectations and to quantify their importance in medical and psychological treatments. The aim of this study was to develop a theory-based, generic, multidimensional measure assessing patient expectations of medical and psychological treatments.

DESIGN

The Treatment Expectation Questionnaire (TEX-Q) was developed based on the integrative model of expectations and a systematic literature review of treatment expectation scales. After creating a comprehensive item pool, the scale was further refined by use of expert ratings and patient interviews.

SETTING

Patients were recruited in primary care at two hospitals in Hamburg, Germany.

PARTICIPANTS

13 scientific experts participated in the expert survey. 11 patients waiting for psychological or surgical treatments participated in the qualitative interviews.

RESULTS

The 2×2×2 multidimensional structure of the TEX-Q assesses two expectation constructs (probabilistic vs value-based) across two outcome domains with two valences (direct benefits and adverse events, broader positive and negative impact), plus process and behavioural control expectations. We examined 583 items from 38 scales identified in the systematic review and developed 78 initial items. Content validity was then rated by experts according to item fit and comprehensibility. The best 53 items were further evaluated for comprehensibility, acceptability, phrasing preference and understanding by interviewing patients prior to treatment using the 'think aloud' technique. This resulted in a first 35-item version of the TEX-Q.

CONCLUSIONS

The TEX-Q is a generic, multidimensional measure to assess patient expectations of medical and psychological treatments and allows comparison of the impact of multidimensional expectations across different conditions. The final TEX-Q will be available after psychometric validation.

Living with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator: patients' preferences and needs for information provision and care options

Aims

The clinical management and care of patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) has shifted from face-to-face in-clinic visits to remote monitoring. Reduced interactions between patients and healthcare professionals may impede patients' transition to adapting post-implant. We examined patients' needs and preferences for information provision and care options and overall satisfaction with treatment.

Methods and results

Patients implanted with a first-time ICD or defibrillator with cardiac resynchronization therapy (n = 389) within the last 2 years at Odense University Hospital were asked to complete a purpose-designed and standardized set of questionnaires. The level of satisfaction with information provision was high; only 13.1% were dissatisfied. Psychological support for patients (39.9%), their relatives (43.1%), and deactivation of the ICD towards end of life (47.8%) were among the top five topics that patients reported to have received no information about. The top five care options that patients had missed were talking to the same healthcare professional (75.2%), receiving ongoing feedback via remote monitoring (61.1%), having a personal conversation with a staff member 2-3 weeks post-implant (59.6%), having an exercise tolerance test (52.5%), and staff asking how patients felt while hospitalized (50.4%). Patients with a secondary prevention indication and cardiac arrest survivors had specific needs, including a wish for a psychological consult post-discharge.

Conclusion

Despite a high satisfaction level with information provision, particular topics are not broached with patients (e.g. device activation) and patients have unmet needs that are not met in current clinical practice.

Expectation-Focused Psychotherapy to Improve Clinical Outcomes

Placebo research has shown that patients' expectations are among the strongest predictors of treatment outcome regarding various medical conditions. Therefore, interventions focusing on the change of such expectations might be most effective. This could be of relevance not only for outcome expectations but also for disease-specific, problem-specific, and treatment-specific expectations. A theoretical model is introduced to illustrate the conditions for expectation change and persistence. Strategies for patients regarding how to devalue learning effects in expectation violation situations are exemplified, and ways to optimize expectation-violating effects are highlighted. Data from a large randomized controlled trial serve as a practical example and demonstrate the effect of a presurgery optimization of expectations in patients scheduled for heart surgery (coronary artery bypass grafting). Disability scores that were obtained 6 months postsurgery confirmed that patients who participated in preoperative psychological interventions, which aimed at optimizing expectations, demonstrate the best outcome after heart surgery. Practical aspects of the intervention are presented, and suggestions on implementing these procedures to optimize outcome in medical interventions are discussed. Psychotherapy is conceptualized as an intervention that should target expectation violation of disorder- and treatment-specific expectations.

Depressive symptoms in patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator: Does treatment expectations play a role?

OBJECTIVE

Patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and co-morbid depression are at greater risk of poor quality of life and premature death. We examined if treatment expectations predict depressive symptoms 12months post implant.

METHODS

First-time implant patients from the WEBCARE study (n=177; 83.1% men) completed the EXPECTations towards ICD therapy questionnaire and the Type D Scale at baseline, and the Patient Health Questionnaire at baseline and 12months.

RESULTS

Using hierarchical linear regression with 3 models, we identified the following independent predictors of 12-months depressive symptoms: Model 1: Negative treatment expectations (β=0.202; p=0.020) and baseline depression (β=0.376; p<0.0001). Model 2: Baseline depression (β=0.350; p<0.0001) and Type D personality (β=0.162; p=0.042); negative treatment expectations was borderline significant (β=0.169; p=0.051). Model 3: Baseline depression (β=0.353; p<0.0001) and negative treatment expectations (β=0.180; p=0.043); Type D personality was not significant (β=0.150; p=0.067), adjusting for positive treatment expectations, heart failure, sex, and shocks during follow-up. The models accounted for 22.2%, 24.1%, and 23.3% of the variance in 12-months depressive symptoms, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Further research is warranted to explore the role of treatment expectations at the time of implant and its overlap with personality as a determinant of depression in patients with an ICD.

Optimism as predictor of patient-reported outcomes in patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (data from the WEBCARE study)

OBJECTIVE

The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is the treatment of choice for prevention of sudden cardiac death. However, a subgroup of ICD patients experiences psychological adjustment problems post implant. To date, positive psychological constructs (e.g. optimism) have been understudied in this population. Hence, we examined the association between optimism and anxiety, depression, and health status at 12-months post implant.

METHODS

Patients (N=171) enrolled in the WEB-based distress management study for ICD patients were included in the analyses. Optimism and pessimism (LOT), and Type D personality (DS14) were administered at baseline, while anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9), and health status (SF-12) were assessed at 12-months.

RESULTS

The mean age was 59.6±10.06 with 81% being male. After controlling for demographic, personality, and clinical variables, baseline optimism was associated with lower anxiety (β=-0.210; p=0.011) and depression (β=-0.222; p=0.005), and better physical (β=0.227; p=0.004) and mental health status (β=0.350; p=0.000) at follow-up. Optimism was also associated with change in mental health status (β=0.195; p=0.007) but not with change in anxiety, depression, and physical health status at follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicate that optimism is associated with less distress and possibly helps safeguard mental health in ICD patients. Increase optimism might be the way forward to reduce long-term distress and impaired health status.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov. Identifier: NCT00895700.

A Personalized and Interactive Web-Based Health Care Innovation to Advance the Quality of Life and Care of Patients With Heart Failure (ACQUIRE-HF): A Mixed Methods Feasibility Study

Background

Heart failure (HF) is a progressive, debilitating, and complex disease, and due to an increasing incidence and prevalence, it represents a global health and economic problem. Hence, there is an urgent need to evaluate alternative care modalities to current practice to safeguard a high level of care for this growing population.

Objective

Our goal was to examine the feasibility of engaging patients to use patient-centered and personalized tools coupled with a Web-based, shared care and interactive platform in order to empower and enable them to live a better life with their disease.

Methods

We used a mixed methods, single-center, pre-post design. Patients with HF and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (n=26) were recruited from the outpatient HF clinic at Odense University Hospital (Svendborg Hospital), Denmark, between October 2015 and March 2016. Patients were asked to monitor their health status via the platform using the standardized, disease-specific measure, the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ), and to register their weight. A subset of patients and nursing staff were interviewed after 3-month follow-up about their experiences with the platform.

Results

Overall, patients experienced improvement in patient-reported health status but deterioration in self-care behavior between baseline and 3-month follow-up. The mean score reflecting patient expectations toward use prior to start of the study was lower (16 [SD 5]) than their actual experiences with use of the platform (21 [SD 5]) after 3-month follow-up. Of all patients, 19 completed both a baseline and follow-up KCCQ. A total of 9 experienced deterioration in their health status (range from 3-34 points), while 10 experienced an improvement (range from 1-23 points). The qualitative data indicated that the majority of patients found the registration and monitoring on the platform useful. Both nursing staff and patients indicated that such monitoring could be a useful tool to engage and empower patients, in particular when patients are just diagnosed with HF.

Conclusions

The use of patient tracking and monitoring of health status in HF using a standardized and validated measure seems feasible and may lead to insights that will help educate, empower, and engage patients more in their own disease management, although it is not suitable for all patients. Nursing staff found the patient-centered tool beneficial as a communication tool with patients but were more reticent with respect to using it as a replacement for the personal contact in the outpatient clinic.

Patients' Expectations Regarding Medical Treatment: A Critical Review of Concepts and Their Assessment

Patients’ expectations in the context of medical treatment represent a growing area of research, with accumulating evidence suggesting their influence on health outcomes across a variety of medical conditions. However, the aggregation of evidence is complicated due to an inconsistent and disintegrated application of expectation constructs and the heterogeneity of assessment strategies. Therefore, based on current expectation concepts, this critical review provides an integrated model of patients’ expectations in medical treatment. Moreover, we review existing assessment tools in the context of the integrative model of expectations and provide recommendations for improving future assessment. The integrative model includes expectations regarding treatment and patients’ treatment-related behavior. Treatment and behavior outcome expectations can relate to aspects regarding benefits and side effects and can refer to internal (e.g., symptoms) and external outcomes (e.g., reactions of others). Furthermore, timeline, structural and process expectations are important aspects with respect to medical treatment. Additionally, generalized expectations such as generalized self-efficacy or optimism have to be considered. Several instruments assessing different aspects of expectations in medical treatment can be found in the literature. However, many were developed without conceptual standardization and psychometric evaluation. Moreover, they merely assess single aspects of expectations, thus impeding the integration of evidence regarding the differential aspects of expectations. As many instruments assess treatment-specific expectations, they are not comparable between different conditions. To generate a more comprehensive understanding of expectation effects in medical treatments, we recommend that future research should apply standardized, psychometrically evaluated measures, assessing multidimensional aspects of patients’ expectations that are applicable across various medical treatments. In the future, more research is needed on the interrelation of different expectation concepts as well as on factors influencing patients’ expectations of illness and treatment. Considering the importance of patients’ expectations for health outcomes across many medical conditions, an integrated understanding and assessment of such expectations might facilitate interventions aiming to optimize patients’ expectations in order to improve health outcomes.

Welche Erwartungen sagen postoperative Depressivität und Ängstlichkeit bei herzchirurgischen Patienten am stärksten vorher?

Zusammenfassung. Theoretischer Hintergrund: Depressivität und Ängstlichkeit beeinträchtigen den Behandlungserfolg von herzchirurgischen Patienten. Fragestellung: Untersucht wurde, ob und wie präoperative Patientenerwartungen mit postoperativer Depressivität und Ängstlichkeit zusammenhängen und welche präoperativen Erwartungen hierbei den höchsten prädiktiven Wert haben. Methoden: 124 aortocoronare Bypass-Patienten bearbeiteten eine Woche vor der Operation einen Fragebogen, der verschiedene Aspekte von Erwartungen mischt (Positive Health Expectation Questionnaire; PHES) und einen Fragebogen, der einzelne Erwartungsaspekte getrennt erfasst (Expected Illness Perception Questionnaire, IPQ-E) und eine Woche vor sowie eine Woche nach der Operation Fragen zu ihrer Depressivität und Ängstlichkeit (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)). Ergebnisse: Postoperative Depressivität wird durch präoperative Erwartungen vorhergesagt (R2 = 0.32, F = 3.13, p = .02). Der einzig signifikante Prädiktor hierbei sind positive Gesundheitserwartungen gemessen mit dem PHES. Auch postoperative Ängstlichkeit wird durch präoperative Erwartungen vorhergesagt (R2 = 0.27, F = 2.55, p < .05). Bei der Vorhersage postoperativer Ängstlichkeit haben erwartete Konsequenzen gemessen mit dem IPQ-E den stärksten prädiktiven Wert. Schlussfolgerungen: Die Studie belegt die Relevanz von präoperativen Erwartungen bei herzchirurgischen Patienten. Interventionen, die auf die Verringerung von Depressivität herzchirurgischer Patienten abzielen, sollten den Fokus auf verschiedene Aspekte von Erwartungen legen. Bei der Verringerung postoperativer Ängstlichkeit könnten hingegen einzeln erfasste Erwartungsaspekte von Bedeutung sein.

Optimizing preoperative expectations in cardiac surgery patients is moderated by level of disability: the successful development of a brief psychological intervention

Patients' expectations have shown to be a major psychological predictor of health outcome in cardiac surgery patients. However, it is unclear whether patients' expectations can be optimized prior to surgery. This study evaluates the development of a brief psychological intervention focusing on the optimization of expectations and its effect on change in patients' expectations prior to cardiac surgery. Ninety patients scheduled for coronary artery bypass graft were randomly assigned to (1) standard medical care, (2) additional expectation manipulation intervention (EMI), and (3) additional attention control group. Therapists' fidelity to intervention manuals and patients satisfaction with the intervention were assessed for both active intervention conditions. Patients' expectations about post-surgical disability, treatment control, personal control, and disease duration were assessed before and after the psychological intervention. Demographical, medical, and psychosocial characteristics and disability were assessed at baseline. Treatment fidelity and patient satisfaction was very high in both intervention conditions. Only patients receiving EMI developed higher personal control expectations and longer (more realistic) expectations of disease duration. The effect of intervention group on patients' disability expectations and patients' personal control expectations was moderated by patient's level of disability. EMI patients with low to moderate disability developed positive expectations whereas patients with high disability did not. This study shows the successful development of a short psychological intervention that was able to modify patients' expectations, especially in those with low to moderate disability. Given the robust association of expectations and surgery outcome, such an intervention might offer the opportunity to enhance patients' health following cardiac surgery.

Examination of the differential impacts of antitachycardia pacing vs. shock on patient activity in the EMPIRIC study

AIMS

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) have demonstrated mortality advantages over antiarrhythmic drug therapy, but ICD shock has known detrimental effects on quality of life and psychologic functioning. However, it remains unknown how patient activity level is affected by shock, or by antitachycardia pacing (ATP), which was developed to reduce the treatment burden of shocks. Examine the differential impact of ICD shock and ATP on patient activity level as a novel way to capture the relative behavioural repercussions of these ICD therapies.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Accelerometer-derived activity data were analysed for a subset of patients (males = 83%; mean age = 62 years) enrolled in the EMPIRIC trial who received shock (n = 71) or ATP (n = 103). Differences in activity between a week pre-therapy and a week post-therapy were examined to assess the behavioural repercussions of shock vs. ATP when one, few (2-4), or many (5+) therapies were delivered. For patients receiving shock, a significant reduction in activity was observed for few (-26%) and many shocks (-34%) in the first week post-therapy (P < 0.05). In weeks 2-4, activity levels recovered towards baseline levels. In contrast, no level of ATP-only therapy significantly reduced patients' activity levels at any time following therapy.

CONCLUSION

This study is the first to evaluate objective, behavioural effects of shock, and whether these effects are comparable with ATP therapy alone. In tandem with existing literature, current results highlight that ICD shocks and ATP have divergent effects on behavioural outcomes, with ATP's effect profile in these domains appearing somewhat favourable.