32601
document
Continuous event recorders did not affect anxiety or quality of life in patients with palpitations . 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 .
32602
Intervention_Other
Continuous event recorders ( CERs )
32603
Intervention_Other
CER
32604
Intervention_Other
CER
32605
Intervention_Educational
usual care ( UC )
32606
Intervention_Physical
CER
32607
Intervention_Educational
UC
32608
Intervention_Physical
CER
32609
Intervention_Educational
UC
32610
Intervention_Educational
UC
32611
Intervention_Physical
CER
32612
Intervention_Physical
CER
32613
Intervention_Educational
UC
32614
Outcome_Adverse-effects
anxiety
32615
Outcome_Physical
quality of life
32616
Outcome_Mental
anxiety
32617
Outcome_Mental
quality of life ( QoL )
32618
Outcome_Physical
QoL
32619
Outcome_Adverse-effects
anxiety
32620
Outcome_Adverse-effects
anxiety
32621
Outcome_Physical
health-related ( HR ) -QoL
32622
Outcome_Mental
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory ( STAI )
32623
Outcome_Mental
Short Form-36 ( SF-36 )
32624
Outcome_Mental
anxiety
32625
Outcome_Mental
QoL
32626
Outcome_Physical
cardiac diagnoses
32627
Outcome_Mental
QoL improvement
32628
Outcome_Mental
anxiety
32629
Outcome_Physical
Type of diagnosis
32630
Outcome_Adverse-effects
anxiety
32631
Outcome_Physical
QoL
32632
Outcome_Physical
cardiac diagnosis
32633
Outcome_Mental
psychological well-being
32634
Participant_Condition
palpitations
32635
Participant_Sample-size
n=244
32636
Participant_Sample-size
One hundred and seventeen