Psychosocial influences on heart rhythm in the coronary-care unit

This report is an extension of previous studies which have shown that significant heart rate and rhythm changes can occur in coronary-care patients during a variety of socio-clinical interactions. Results of continuous day-long observations and concurrent monitoring of one such coronary-care patient disclosed that twice as many ectopic beats occurred during routine nursing interactions compared to resting periods, even though such interactions accounted for less than half of the total observation period. These results are similar to previous studies that have shown that the frequency of ectopic beats can be significantly altered in coronary-care patients by such routine interactions as pulse palpation. Combined with other clinical and animal studies, these data suggest that psycho-social interactions can have major effects on cardiac functioning.