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Title

Spiritual well-being may buffer psychological distress in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD)

Authors

Elena Salmoirago Blotcher, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Sybil L. Crawford, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Chau Tran, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Robert J. Goldberg, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Lawrence S. Rosenthal, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Ira S. Ockene, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow

UMMS Affiliation

Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine; Department of Medicine, Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine; Department of Quantitative Health Sciences

Date

10-1-2012

Document Type

Article

Subjects

Defibrillators, Implantable; Mind-Body Therapies; Spirituality

Disciplines

Alternative and Complementary Medicine | Cardiology | Cardiovascular Diseases | Psychological Phenomena and Processes | Psychology

Abstract

Psychological distress is common in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and has been associated with a worse prognosis. The authors examined whether spiritual well-being is associated with reduced psychological distress in patients with ICDs. The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Wellbeing (FACIT-SWB) questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were used to measure spiritual well-being and overall psychological distress. Multivariate linear regression was used to explore the relationship between these variables.

The study sample included 46 ICD outpatients (32 M, 14 F; age range 43-83). An inverse association between HADS and FACIT-SWB scores was found, persisting after adjustment for demographics, anxiety/depression, medications, therapist support, and functional status (F = 0.001; β= -0.31, CI: -0.44, -0.19). In conclusion, spiritual well-being was independently associated with lower psychological distress in ICD outpatients. Spiritual well-being could act as a protective factor against psychological distress in these high-risk patients.

Comments

In accordance with SAGE's copyright and permission policies (http://www.sagepub.com/journalgateway/permissions.htm), this is the version of the article that the authors submitted to the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

The final version was published as: J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2012 Oct 1;17(3):148-154. doi:10.1177/2156587212447627. Link to article on publisher's site

Related Resources

Link to article in PubMed

Keywords

prevention; spirituality; cardioverter defibrillators