ADVERTISEMENT

If you are seeing this message, you may be experiencing temporary network problems. Please wait a few minutes and refresh the page. If the problem persists, you may wish to report it to your local Network Manager.

It is also possible that your web browser is not configured or not able to display style sheets. In this case, although the visual presentation will be degraded, the site should continue to be functional. We recommend using the latest version of Microsoft or Mozilla web browser to help minimise these problems.

Wiley InterScience

< Previous Abstract  |  Next Abstract >

Save Article to My Profile      Download Citation      Request Permissions

Abstract |  References  |  Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 189K)  | Related Articles | Citation Tracking

Health Status in Patients Treated with Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy: Modulating Effects of Personality
ANGÉLIQUE A. SCHIFFER, M.A.*†, JOHAN DENOLLET, Ph.D.*, SUSANNE S. PEDERSEN, Ph.D.*, HERMAN BROERS, R.N., and JOS W. WIDDERSHOVEN, M.D., Ph.D.
From   *CoRPS–Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic diseases, Tilburg University, The Netherlands , and   Department of Cardiology, TweeSteden Hospital Tilburg, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Correspondence to  Address for reprints: Angélique Schiffer, M.A., CoRPS, Department of Medical Psychology, Tilburg University, PO Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands. Fax: +31-13-4662370; e-mail: Angelique.schiffer@uvt.nl

The study was supported by grants from Medtronic and St. Jude Medical, and a VICI grant (453-04-004) to Dr. J Denollet and a VENI grant (451-05-001) to Dr. SS Pedersen by The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

Copyright 2008, The Authors. Journal compilation ©2008, Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
KEYWORDS
Cardiac resynchronization therapypersonality traitshealth statuspatient-centered outcomes

(PACE 2008; 31:28–37)

ABSTRACT

Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is a promising treatment in chronic heart failure (CHF). However, a subgroup of patients still report impaired health status, cardiac symptoms, and feelings of disability following CRT. The aims of this study were to examine (1) whether CHF patients treated with CRT improved in patient-centered outcomes and functional capacity, and (2) whether personality traits exert a stable effect on these outcomes over two months.

Methods: Analyses are based on 31 patients (65% male; mean age 70 ± 8) with CHF treated with CRT. Two weeks before and two months after CRT, patients completed the Type-D Scale (negative affectivity, i.e., tendency to experience negative emotions, and social inhibition, i.e., tendency to inhibit self-expression), the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (disease-specific health status), and the Health Complaints Scale (cardiac symptoms and perceived disability), and performed the six-minute walking test (functional capacity).

Results: There was an improvement in disease-specific health status (P< 0.001), cardiac symptoms (P = 0.001), perceived disability (P< 0.001), and functional capacity (P = 0.007) in all patients over two months. However, high negative affectivity patients reported significantly lower disease-specific health status (P = 0.046), and more cardiac symptoms (P = 0.035), and perceived disability (P = 0.015) as compared to low negative affectivity patients. There was no significant main effect for negative affectivity on functional capacity. High negative affectivity patients still reported lower disease-specific health status (P = 0.06) and significantly more perceived disability (P = 0.04) when adjusting for left ventricular ejection fraction, gender, and age. The effects of negative affectivity on patient-centered outcomes, as measured by Cohen's effect size index, were moderate to large.

Conclusions: Patient-centered outcomes improved over a two-month period in patients treated with CRT, but negative affectivity exerted a stable, negative effect on health status, cardiac symptoms, and perceived disability. Personality traits should be taken into account when evaluating effects of CRT.


Received June 21, 2007; revised August 6, 2007; September 11, 2007; accepted September 23, 2007.

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)
10.1111/j.1540-8159.2007.00922.x About DOI

Related Articles

  • Find other articles like this in Wiley InterScience
  • Find articles in Wiley InterScience written by any of the authors

Wiley InterScience is a member of CrossRef.

Cross Ref Member






Latest News & Information
PACE Impact Factor

Free Issue

Read archived issues of our FREE Cardiology NewsWire

Latest News and Information

Get 6 free issues of breaking news and research delivered to your inbox each year!

Register now

Conference Announcement
Cardiostim 2010
Cardiostim 2010
Sign Up Now
Sign Up Now