The importance, consequences and treatment of psychosocial risk factors in heart disease: less conversation, more action!

Psychosocial factors play a significant role in the incidence and prognosis of cardiovascular disease with a rapidly increasing body of knowledge, as acknowledged by their inclusion in the European Society of Cardiology cardiovascular prevention guideline since 2012. Nevertheless, psychosocial risk is not consistently assessed, acknowledged and treated in daily clinical practice. Therefore, adopting a multidimensional approach that encompasses biological, psychological, and social factors is crucial for understanding the dynamic nature of cardiovascular health and disease, delivering patient-centred care, and developing effective interventions to ultimately enhance health and satisfaction with contemporary medicine and care. The current review summarises the state-of-the-art evidence for screening and treating psychological risk factors in coronary heart disease, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation in the context of cardiac rehabilitation, along with accompanying recommendations. The limited adoption of routine screening, despite longstanding recommendations, highlights the importance of prioritising the implementation and expansion of routine screening in primary and secondary prevention. To advance psychosocial treatment, a standardised and personalised approach including comprehensive education, physical exercise, and psychosocial support with a focus on patient-reported outcomes is crucial. Treating heart and mind together has the potential to decrease psychosocial risk while enhancing the prognosis and quality of life, therefore delivering true patient-centred care.

Patient room lighting influences on sleep, appraisal and mood in hospitalized people.

Irregular 24 h light/dark cycles with night-time light exposure and a low amplitude are disruptive for sleep, mood and circadian rhythms. Nevertheless such lighting conditions are quite common in medical care facilities. A controlled clinical trial among 196 cardiology ward patients (mean age 66.5 ± 13.1 years SD) investigated how a patient room lighting intervention affects sleep, appraisal and mood across hospitalization. Patients were either assigned to a standardly-lit room or to a room with an interventional lighting system offering a dynamic 24 h light/dark cycle with low nocturnal light exposure and 2 h of bright light (1750 lux) during daytime. Measures included wrist actigraphy and questionnaires assessing alertness, sleep quality, anxiety, depression and lighting appraisal. The median length of hospitalization was 5 days in both study arms. Subjective scores on sleep, alertness, anxiety and depression did not differ between arms. Lighting appraisal in intervention rooms was better as compared to standardly-lit rooms, both in patients (P < 0.001) and staff (P < 0.005). Actigraphic sleep duration of patients improved by 5.9 min (95% CI: 0.6-11.2; P = 0.03 intervention × time effect) per hospitalization day with interventional lighting instead of standard lighting. After 5 days of hospitalization, sleep duration in the lighting intervention rooms increased by 29 min, or a relative 7.3%, as compared to standardly-lit rooms. A 24 h lighting system with enhanced daytime brightness and restricted nocturnal light exposure can improve some aspects of appraisal and objective sleep in hospital patients. More clinical research is needed to establish the best lighting strategy to promote healing and wellbeing within healthcare settings.

Predictors of fatigue in sarcoidosis: The value of exercise testing.

BACKGROUND: Sarcoidosis patients often are troubled by dyspnea, exercise limitation, and fatigue. Many patients (up to 50-81%) suffer from sarcoidosis-associated fatigue. The etiology of fatigue in sarcoidosis is still unclear. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between fatigue and both exercise capacity and clinical characteristics in sarcoidosis patients. Additionally, we studied the predictive value of exercise test results and other relevant clinical characteristics for the independent variable of fatigue. METHODS: From November 2012 to September 2014, 201 sarcoidosis outpatients were referred to the Dutch ILD care foundation expertise team, 146 of whom were included in this retrospective cohort study. All patients completed the Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS). Exercise capacity was assessed by the 6-min walking distance (6MWD) and steep ramp test (SRT) result. Clinical data were gathered from the medical records. RESULTS: Exercise capacity only showed a weak correlation with fatigue (r = 0.25, p = 0.002 for 6MWD % of predicted; r = 0.24, p = 0.003 for SRT). Fatigue was not correlated with the demographic variables of age, body mass index, or time since diagnosis. Inflammatory markers, lung function tests, and hand grip strength showed no significant correlations with fatigue. Backward multiple regression analysis showed that only female sex (t = -2,614, p = 0.01) and 6MWD % of predicted (t = -2.773, p = 0.006) were independent predictors of fatigue. However, the r(2) indicated that these two variables together explained only 11% of the FAS score. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that exercise capacity partly predicts patients' fatigue scores. Fatigue was not explained by lung function test results, inflammatory markers, or other clinical parameters.

Managing complex patients on a medical psychiatric unit: an observational study of university hospital costs associated with medical service use, length of stay, and psychiatric intervention.

OBJECTIVE: Although there is a suggestion that the medical psychiatric unit (MPU) may reduce length of hospital stay (LOS), little is known about costs in terms of medical service use and psychiatric interventions in MPU care. METHOD: A record linkage study was conducted, linking cost data of hospital medical service use, LOS, and hospital psychiatric interventions to patients admitted to the MPU of the Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC) between 1998 and 2004. The data set was analyzed to enable comparison between cost changes of the same complex patient population following either MPU index admission or index admissions to reference MUMC medical wards. RESULTS: Comparisons revealed lower costs of medical service use in favor of the MPU (-euro104; 95% CI -euro174 to -euro35; P<.01). However, cost of psychiatric intervention and cost of LOS were higher after MPU admission (respectively, +euro165; 95% CI +euro25 to +euro305; P<.05; and +euro202; 95% CI +euro170 to +euro235; P<.001). Total costs were higher after MPU admission compared to medical ward admission (+euro263; 95% CI +euro68 to +euro458; P<.05). These differences were not moderated by somatic diagnosis or previous pattern of admissions. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that patients at the interface of psychiatric and somatic morbidity are diagnosed and treated adequately at the MPU, leading to a decrease in medical service use and an appropriate increase in exposure to psychiatric interventions. These results are specifically generalizable to MPUs with a focus on psychosomatic conditions, for instance, somatoform disorders or affective disorders with comorbid somatic diseases. However, failure to show cost savings in terms of LOS compared to medical wards outweighs cost-benefit derived from lower medical service use, suggesting that MPU activities may gain in cost-effectiveness if shifted more to outpatient psychosomatic care solutions.

The impact of differences in EQ-5D and SF-6D utility scores on the acceptability of cost-utility ratios: results across five trial-based cost-utility studies.

OBJECTIVE: This article investigates whether differences in utility scores based on the EQ-5D and the SF-6D have impact on the incremental cost-utility ratios in five distinct patient groups. METHODS: We used five empirical data sets of trial-based cost-utility studies that included patients with different disease conditions and severity (musculoskeletal disease, cardiovascular pulmonary disease, and psychological disorders) to calculate differences in quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) based on EQ-5D and SF-6D utility scores. We compared incremental QALYs, incremental cost-utility ratios, and the probability that the incremental cost-utility ratio was acceptable within and across the data sets. RESULTS: We observed small differences in incremental QALYs, but large differences in the incremental cost-utility ratios and in the probability that these ratios were acceptable at a given threshold, in the majority of the presented cost-utility analyses. More specifically, in the patient groups with relatively mild health conditions the probability of acceptance of the incremental cost-utility ratio was considerably larger when using the EQ-5D to estimate utility. While in the patient groups with worse health conditions the probability of acceptance of the incremental cost-utility ratio was considerably larger when using the SF-6D to estimate utility. CONCLUSIONS: Much of the appeal in using QALYs as measure of effectiveness in economic evaluations is in the comparability across conditions and interventions. The incomparability of the results of cost-utility analyses using different instruments to estimate a single index value for health severely undermines this aspect and reduces the credibility of the use of incremental cost-utility ratios for decision-making.

Lactate: panicking doctor or panicking patient?

We report a case of a 51-year-old man with a first panic attack associated with high serum lactate due to hyperventilation induced alkalosis. Hyperlactataemia may trigger somatically oriented tests and divert attention from diagnosing panic disorder (PD). Factors associated with underdiagnosis of PD as well as pathophysiology of hyperlactataemia will be discussed.

Role of cytochrome P450 polymorphisms in the development of pulmonary drug toxicity: a case-control study in the Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: Drug-induced pulmonary toxicity is a serious and expanding problem with often unknown aetiology. Many drugs are metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes. OBJECTIVE: To establish whether allelic variation in CYP polymorphic genes contributes to variability in drug response and unexpected toxicity. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted. The cases consisted of patients with drug-induced interstitial lung disease (DI-ILD; n = 59). Two control groups were used: one group of healthy volunteers (n = 173) and one group of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF; n = 110). RESULTS: Of the patients with DI-ILD 91.5% (54/59) had at least one of the studied variant genes compared with 70.5% (122/173, p < 0.001) of the healthy volunteers and 69.1% (76/110, p < 0.001) of the IPF patients. The percentage of individuals with one or more variant CYP genes was higher in the DI-ILD group. Odds ratios were significantly increased and ranged from 3.25 to 40.8, indicating a significant association between the development of DI-ILD and the presence of one or more variant CYP genes. CONCLUSION: DI-ILD appeared to be associated with the presence of at least one variant CYP allele. This study supports the potential usefulness of personalized medicine by genotyping aiming to improve efficacy, tolerability and drug safety.

Treatment of post-myocardial infarction depressive disorder: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial with mirtazapine.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the antidepressant efficacy of a dual-acting antidepressant (mirtazapine) in patients with post-myocardial infarction (MI) depressive disorder. Antidepressants used in post MI trials with a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design have been restricted to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Antidepressant effects have been limited. METHODS: In a prospective multicenter study, 2177 patients with MI were evaluated for depressive disorder during the first year post MI. Ninety-one patients who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for major or minor depressive disorder were randomized to a 24-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Antidepressant efficacy was tested using last-observation-carried-forward procedure and repeated measurements analysis using the SPPS mixed models approach, with as primary outcome reduction in depressive symptomatology on the 17-item Hamilton-Depression Rating Scale (Ham-D), and secondary outcomes the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and depression subscale of the Symptom Check List 90 items (dSCL-90) as well as the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale. RESULTS: Using the "last observation carried forward" (LOCF) method, mirtazapine did not show to be superior to placebo on the Ham-D, but did on the BDI, dSCL-90, and CGI scale over the acute treatment phase of 8 weeks (n = 91). Using mixed models analysis over the entire 24 weeks of treatment (n = 40), we did find a significant difference favoring mirtazapine to placebo on the Ham-D, BDI, and CGI, but on the dSCL-90, this difference was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: This trial shows efficacy of mirtazapine on primary and secondary depression measures. Mirtazapine seems to be safe in the treatment of post-MI depression.

Noncardiac chest pain in the emergency department: the role of cardiac history, anxiety or depression and Type D personality.

BACKGROUND: Noncardiac chest pain is common in patients presenting to emergency departments and is frequently associated with panic disorder. This can represent a major burden for patients and the healthcare system. Little is known about the patient characteristics that increase the risk of noncardiac chest pain. We examined whether cardiac history or Type D personality was associated with panic disorder and/or depression-driven noncardiac chest pain. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients presenting with noncardiac chest pain to the emergency department of the University Hospital Maastricht were screened using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Patients scoring > or =8 on the HADS subscale were invited for a psychiatric interview; a consecutive sample of patients scoring <8 on the HADS was included as a reference group. Type D personality (tendency to experience emotional distress) was assessed with the DS14. Among the 304 HADS-positive patients, 89% were diagnosed with panic disorder/depression as compared with 8% of the 106 HADS-negative patients. Previous cardiac history was not associated with psychiatric diagnosis. Type D patients reported more anxiety symptoms (12.4+/-4.0 vs. 8.1+/-4.9) and depression symptoms on the HADS (10.2+/-4.7 vs. 5.8+/-4.9) and more often had comorbid panic disorder/depression (91/157=58% vs. 57/253=23%) than non-Type D patients (P<0.0001). Type D personality (odds ratio =8.67, 95% confidence interval 4.69-16.02), younger age and male sex were independently associated with increased risk of panic disorder or depression. Type D was independently associated with comorbid panic disorder/depression (odds ratio=14.49). CONCLUSION: Type D personality, but not cardiac history, is independently associated with the presence of psychopathology in noncardiac chest pain. Type D is associated with a substantially increased risk of co-occurring PD/depression in these patients.

Validity of the hospital anxiety and depression scale for use with patients with noncardiac chest pain.

Consecutive patients seen in the first-heart-aid service of a university hospital and given a diagnosis of noncardiac chest pain completed the self-report Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Patients with a score >or=8 on either the anxiety or depression subscale (N=266, mean age=55.81 years, SD=13.03, 143 male patients) were compared with patients scoring <8 (N=78, mean age=60.55 years, SD=10. 84, 50 male patients) by means of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Panic disorder and/or depression identified by the diagnostic interview were highly prevalent in the group with a score >or=8 (73.3% versus 3.9% in the comparison group). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale is an adequate screening instrument for the detection of affective disorders in patients with noncardiac chest pain.

Beta-thromboglobulin and platelet factor 4 levels in post-myocardial infarction patients with major depression.

Platelet factor 4 (PF 4) and beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG) were studied in 12 depressed post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients and 12 matched non-depressed post-MI patients. PF4 was significantly higher in the depressed group than in the non-depressed group. beta-TG was increased in the depressed subgroup, but the difference was not statistically significant.