Psychological well-being and illness perception in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients undergoing hybrid cardiac rehabilitation

Abstract

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): National Institute of Cardiology. Background Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a congenital heart disease influencing patients' physical capacity and quality of life and increasing the risk of sudden cardiac death. For many years patients with HCM were advised to avoid physical activity and intense psychological stress. Current studies suggest that cardiac rehabilitation (CR) could be safe and beneficial for somatic and psychological status in HCM patients. Method In the RCT study assessing the efficacy of hybrid CR patients with HCM from rehabilitation (R) and control (C) groups were asked to fill the questionnaires regarding their psychosocial well-being (GHQ-28) and illness perception (Brief IPQ) at every stage of the study (baseline, 3, 6, 9, and 15 months). Results There was a significant improvement in the overall distress level in the R group (p=0,003), but not in the C group (p=0.559). There were no significant differences in the illness perception (p=0.200 for the R group and p=0.090 for the C group), although the R group showed significant short-term improvement after three months (p=0.032). Conclusions Cardiac rehabilitation can enhance the psychological well-being of HCM patients and their adjustment to illness. However, significant improvement is observed only in the first months after the rehabilitation.