TY - JOUR
T1 - Continuous event recorders did not affect anxiety or quality of life in patients with palpitations
AU - Hoefman, Emmy
AU - Boer, Kimberly R.
AU - van Weert, Henk C. P. M.
AU - Reitsma, Johannes B.
AU - Koster, Rudolf W.
AU - Bindels, Patrick J. P.
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - OBJECTIVES: Palpitations can generate feelings of anxiety and decrease quality of life (QoL) due to fear of a cardiac abnormality. Continuous event recorders (CERs) have proven to be successful in diagnosing causes of palpitations but may affect patient QoL and anxiety. The aim is to determine anxiety and health-related (HR)-QoL and evaluate the burden of carrying a CER in general practice populations. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Patients (n=244) participated in a randomized trial. One group (n=127) carried a CER during 4 weeks. One hundred and seventeen patients formed the usual care (UC) group. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) were administered at study inclusion, after 1, 6 months. RESULTS: At baseline, patients reported greater anxiety and lower QoL than healthy populations. The CER group had three times more cardiac diagnoses than the UC group. No differences were found between CER group and UC group at 6 weeks. At 6 months, the UC group showed QoL improvement and less anxiety compared to the CER group. Type of diagnosis had influence, but did not fully explain these differences. CONCLUSION: A CER does not negatively influence anxiety or QoL. Better outcomes in the UC group might be attributed to less cardiac diagnosis and more emphasis on psychological well-being
AB - OBJECTIVES: Palpitations can generate feelings of anxiety and decrease quality of life (QoL) due to fear of a cardiac abnormality. Continuous event recorders (CERs) have proven to be successful in diagnosing causes of palpitations but may affect patient QoL and anxiety. The aim is to determine anxiety and health-related (HR)-QoL and evaluate the burden of carrying a CER in general practice populations. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Patients (n=244) participated in a randomized trial. One group (n=127) carried a CER during 4 weeks. One hundred and seventeen patients formed the usual care (UC) group. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) were administered at study inclusion, after 1, 6 months. RESULTS: At baseline, patients reported greater anxiety and lower QoL than healthy populations. The CER group had three times more cardiac diagnoses than the UC group. No differences were found between CER group and UC group at 6 weeks. At 6 months, the UC group showed QoL improvement and less anxiety compared to the CER group. Type of diagnosis had influence, but did not fully explain these differences. CONCLUSION: A CER does not negatively influence anxiety or QoL. Better outcomes in the UC group might be attributed to less cardiac diagnosis and more emphasis on psychological well-being
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2007.01.014
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2007.01.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 17884602
SN - 0895-4356
VL - 60
SP - 1060
EP - 1066
JO - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
JF - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
IS - 10
ER -