Association between cardiac event-induced PTSD symptoms and daily intrusive thoughts about cardiac risk: An ecological momentary assessment study.
Gen Hosp Psychiatry
; 86: 103-107, 2024.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38181710
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Posttraumatic stress symptoms (PSS) due to acute cardiac events are common and may lead patients to avoid secondary prevention behaviors. However, patients' daily experience of cardiac event-induced PSS has not been studied after a potentially traumatic cardiac hospitalization.METHOD:
In an observational cohort study, 108 mostly male patients with coronary heart disease were recruited after evaluation for suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS). One month later, PSS were assessed via telephone-administered PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). The exposure of interest was elevated (PCL-5 ≥ 20) vs. non-elevated PSS (PCL-5 ≤ 5). The occurrence and severity of cardiac-related intrusive thoughts were assessed 5 times daily for 2 weeks via electronic surveys on a wrist-worn device.RESULTS:
Moderate-to-severe intrusive thoughts were experienced by 48.1% of patients but more commonly by elevated-PSS (n = 36; 66.7%) than non-elevated-PSS (n = 72; 38.9%) patients. After adjustment for demographic and clinical characteristics, elevated- vs. non-elevated-PSS patients had a 9-fold higher odds of experiencing a moderate-to-severe intrusive thought during each 2-h assessment interval (adjusted OR = 9.14, 95% CI [2.99, 27.92], p < .01). After adjustment, intrusive thoughts on a 0-to-6 point scale were over two times as intense for elevated-PSS vs. non-elevated-PSS patients.CONCLUSIONS:
Intrusive thoughts about cardiac risk were common in patients recently evaluated for ACS, but much more prevalent and intense in those with elevated vs non-elevated PSS.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
/
Acute Coronary Syndrome
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Etiology_studies
/
Incidence_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
Gen Hosp Psychiatry
Year:
2024
Type:
Article