Leiden University Student Repository

Černáková, Romana (2022)

The Relationship Between Disease-Related Anxiety and Psychological Outcomes in Cardiac Patients: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Master thesis | Psychology (MSc)

Various forms of disease-related anxiety (DRA) have shown to correlate with negative mental health outcomes in cardiovascular (CVD) patients. The aim of this article was to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between DRA and psychological outcomes in patients with CVD. A systematic literature search was performed on the 16th of April, 2021. A random-effect model meta-analyses were conducted on cross-sectional data assessing the correlations between various DRA types and psychological outcomes. Study results which were eligible for inclusion but could not be analysed statistically were described in a summary of findings. We found 20 eligible studies of mostly cross-sectional design. Twelve of these studies were included in the meta-analysis. The performed meta-analyses showed that higher levels of cardiac anxiety (CAQ total) were correlated with higher levels of general anxiety (r= 0.47, p<.001) and depression (r= 0.34, p<.001) (HADS). The same...Show moreVarious forms of disease-related anxiety (DRA) have shown to correlate with negative mental health outcomes in cardiovascular (CVD) patients. The aim of this article was to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between DRA and psychological outcomes in patients with CVD. A systematic literature search was performed on the 16th of April, 2021. A random-effect model meta-analyses were conducted on cross-sectional data assessing the correlations between various DRA types and psychological outcomes. Study results which were eligible for inclusion but could not be analysed statistically were described in a summary of findings. We found 20 eligible studies of mostly cross-sectional design. Twelve of these studies were included in the meta-analysis. The performed meta-analyses showed that higher levels of cardiac anxiety (CAQ total) were correlated with higher levels of general anxiety (r= 0.47, p<.001) and depression (r= 0.34, p<.001) (HADS). The same relationship was found between the three susbcales of cardiac anxiety (CAQ fear, CAQ avoidance, CAQ attention) and general anxiety (rfear= 0.50, p <.001; ravoidance= 0.19, p <.001; rattention= 0.38,p<.001) and depression (rfear= 0.40, p <.001; ravoidance= 0.32, p <.001; rattention= .31,p <.001) (HADS). Fear of movement (FactS-HF 15) was significantly, positively correlated with state anxiety (r= 0.38, p<.001) and depression (r= 0.28, p<.001) (STADI) and trait anxiety (r= 0.51, p<.001) and depression (r= 0.45, p<.001) (STADI). Finally, correlation between kinesiophobia (TSK-Heart) and general anxiety (HADS-A) was non-significant (r= 0.36, p=.224). Our findings show a connection between various types of DRA and a higher risk of psychopathology in CVD patients. While the underlying pathway cannot be seen from our results, multiple processes have been proposed in previous studies. We believe that regular DRA screening and development of disease-specific treatment may be beneficial for this patient population. However, more research is needed in order to understand this relationship as well as to assess the effectiveness of a disease-specific approach.Show less

disease-related anxiety

cardiovascular disease

general anxiety

depression

Author

Černáková, Romana

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Health and Medical Psychology

Supervisors

Reijnders, T.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en