Psychological Interventions Halved Risks of Mortality & Heart Attack
Psychological interventions, such as talk therapy, relaxation exercise and music therapy, have made profound contributions to the reduction of premature death and heart attack cases, suggest a study presented at the Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013, the annual meeting of the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
The researchers found that the addition of psychological interventions reduced mortality and cardiovascular rates by 55 per cent after two years or more. “We found a huge benefit of psychological interventions after two years, with less patients dying or having a cardiovascular event and, therefore, fewer repeat hospital visits,” Dr Zoi Aggelopoulou, one of the study authors, said. In a meta-analysis of nine randomised controlled trials, the researchers evaluated whether psychological interventions could improve outcomes for coronary heart disease patients when combined with a conventional rehabilitation programme.
The psychological interventions included talking to patients and their families about the issues that were worrying them, music therapy, relaxation exercise, and helping them to say prayers.
Aggelopoulou said patients want to know what will happen to them when they leave the hospital, how to take medications, or whether or not they can have sex. All these are made possible with psychological interventions. “Our research shows that giving them information and providing reassurance decreases the chances of them dying or having another heart attack. Patients can help instigate this new culture of information by asking more questions and getting more involved in decisions about their treatment.” the researcher note.
Not only did psychological interventions help improve patients’ quality of life. The researchers said they also helped address other risk factors for heart attack, such as chronic stress, depression, and social isolation, as shown by previous studies.
“We can help our patients by simply talking to them or introducing new things like music therapy into our clinical practice,” Aggelopoulou said. Not only will these interventions will have impact on the risk of heart attack, but they may also affect the future outlook of a patient who has suffered from a cardiovascular event, he continued. “This validates our view that cardiovascular disease is not just a physical disease but also has a substantial psychological component.”
Source of this article:
Psychological Interventions, Talking Cut Death, Future Heart Attacks in Patients
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