The Effect of Anxiety and Depression on Symptoms Attributed to Atrial Fibrillation

Thompson, Tiffany; Barksdale, Debra J.; Sears, Samuel F.; Mounsey, J. Paul; Pursell, Irion; Gehi, Anil K.

doi:10.1111/pace.12292

Cited by 71 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…37 Similarly, increased severity of depression and anxiety are associated with increased AF symptom severity (p<0.001). 31 Palpitations were significantly more common among the women in our study, and are known to be influenced by neuropsychiatric variables. 34 It is plausible that differences in neuropsychiatric variables influenced the number of men versus women that experienced the heart cluster.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…Previous reports indicate younger age and female gender are associated with an increased frequency and severity AF symptoms. 31,36 However, Sears et al 32 found that age and gender were not significantly associated with the number of AF symptoms reported. Our results indicate that age and gender are indeed non-modifiable characteristics that influence certain aspects of symptom perception, specifically symptom clustering.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Symptom Clusters in Adults With Chronic Atrial Fibrillation

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Symptom clusters have not previously been explored among individuals with atrial fibrillation of any type. Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the number of symptom clusters present among adults with chronic atrial fibrillation and to explore sociodemographic and clinical factors potentially associated with cluster membership. Methods: This was a cross-sectional secondary data analysis of 335 Australian community-dwelling adults with chronic (recurrent paroxysmal, persistent, or permanent) atrial fibrillation. We used self-reported symptoms and agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis to determine the number and content of symptom clusters present. Results: There were slightly more male (52%) than female participants, with a mean (SD) age of 72 (11.25) years. Three symptom clusters were evident, including a vagal cluster (nausea and diaphoresis), a tired cluster (fatigue/lethargy, weakness, syncope/dizziness, and dyspnea/breathlessness), and a heart cluster (chest pain/discomfort and palpitations/fluttering). We compared patient characteristics among those with all the symptoms in the cluster, those with some of the symptoms in the cluster, and those with none of the symptoms in the cluster. The only statistically significant differences were in age, gender, and the use of antiarrhythmic medications for the heart cluster. Women were more likely to have the heart symptom cluster than men were. Individuals with all of the symptoms in the heart cluster were younger (69.6 vs 73.7 years; P = .029) than those with none of the symptoms in the heart cluster and were more likely to be on antiarrhythmic medications. Conclusion: Three unique atrial fibrillation symptom clusters were identified in this study population.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symptom Clusters in Adults With Chronic Atrial Fibrillation

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The first phase of assistance and psychological intervention begins with the assessment of the mental state of the patient. Clinical psychologist looking after the patient performs an initial psychological diagnosis and conducts psychological therapy aimed at: − helping the patient to control fear, distress, sometimes strong anxiety, − ensuring the patient about his or her safety, − reducing the mental tension, − providing mental support (4,(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). The psychological impact is mainly based on informing the patient about the place and the therapy conducted, explaining the peculiarities of treatment in a clinic/cardiology ward, informing the patient about the need to monitoring the electrical activities of the heart (EKG), and the need to monitoring blood pressure.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological problems in patients with atrial fibrillation

Nasiłowska-Barud¹,

Żuk²,

Jabłońska-Brzozowska³

et al. 2015

Post N Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction. Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. Epidemiological studies show that 1-2% of the global population of adults suffer from atrial fibrillation and the number is growing. Mortality among patients with atrial fibrillation is twice as high as in patients with normal sinus rhythm. Thromboembolic complications such as ischemic stroke are much more common too. Also transient cerebral ischemia is from two to seven times more frequent as in people who do not suffer from atrial fibrillation. This is the background which should be considered in analyzing psychological situation of patients suffering from atrial fibrillation. Aim. Analysis of mental functioning of patients with atrial fibrillation. Material and methods. A group of 137 patients was selected from 2337 patients who were treated for atrial fibrillation at the Cardiology Clinic of the Medical University of Lublin in 2014. Patients who were admitted to this study required psychological support. During the treatment the clinical data were obtained which allowed to analyse the mental functioning of patients provided with psychological therapy and support. Results. Psychological therapy and support is required by patients with severe symptoms of anxiety, restlessness, insecurity and depressed mood. Special psychological therapy was also required by patients with complications of underlying disease. Special psychological therapy approach is required by a group of patients qualified for modern, invasive methods of atrial fibrillation treatment such as percutaneous ablation. Conclusions. Psychological support provided to patients with atrial fibrillation should include: 1. controlling negative emotions experienced by patients in their illness, especially fear of pain, possible complications and fear of death, 2. psychoeducation of patients concerning methods of coping with pain, anxiety and other unpleasant experiences, 3. strengthening psychological resilience and patient's motivation to become involved in the treatment and cooperate with doctors and psychologists. S t r e s z c z e n i e Wstęp. Migotanie przedsionków (ang. atrial fibrillation-AF) jest najczęstszym zaburzeniem rytmu serca. Badania epidemiologiczne wskazują, że migotanie przedsionków występuje od 1-2% wśród światowej populacji dorosłych i liczba zachorowań stale wzrasta. Umieralność wśród osób z migotaniem przedsionków jest dwukrotnie większa niż u osób z prawidłowym zatokowym rytmem serca. Znacznie częściej również występują powikłania zatorowo-zakrzepowe, m.in. udary niedokrwienne mózgu. Także epizody przemijającego niedokrwienia mózgu są 2-7 razy częstsze niż u osób, u których nie występuje migotanie przedsionków. Tworzy to tło, na którym należy widzieć psychologiczną sytuację chorego z migotaniem przedsionków. Cel pracy. Analiza funkcjonowania psychicznego chorych z migotaniem przedsionków. Materiał i metody. Spośród 2337 pacjentów wyodrębniono grupę 137 chorych, którzy w 2014 roku byli leczeni z powodu migotania przedsionków w Klinice Kardiologii Uniwersytetu Me...

show abstract

“…Anxiety was an important predictor of arrhythmia-specific symptoms and HRQoL at baseline, but did not influence improvement of symptoms and HRQoL after RFA. Previous studies have shown that anxiety is strongly correlated with AF symptoms 69,106 , and that a depressed mood and worry can increase perceptions of AF symptom burden and cause disengagement from daily activities 107 . Still, their relationship can be regarded as a "the egg or the chicken" situation, i.e.…”

Section: Quality Of Lifementioning

confidence: 99%