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Cognitive-behavioral therapy for noncardiac chest pain: a randomized trial
A S van Peski-Oosterbaan1, P Spinhoven, Y van Rood
1Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Oegstgeest, The Netherlands.
Purpose:
Patients with nonischemic chest pain frequently experience recurrent symptoms, have persistent functional and occupational disability, and are high utilizers of health-care resources. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral treatment for patients with noncardiac chest pain.
Patients And Methods:
Subjects were recruited from patients with at least weekly episodes of noncardiac chest pain, as diagnosed by a cardiologist. The main outcome measures were frequency and intensity of chest pain at 6 and 12 months.
Results:
Seventy-two patients were enrolled in the study; 37 were assigned to cognitive-behavior therapy and 35 to usual care. Sixty-five patients completed the study. Intervention patients improved significantly with regard to frequency and intensity of chest pain: 15 (48%) of the 31 patients in the treatment group were pain free at 12-month follow-up compared with 4 (13%) of the 33 patients in the control group (P = 0.002).
Conclusions:
Cognitive-behavioral therapy for noncardiac chest pain patients was effective compared with usual care.