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[Psychocardiology today]
J Jordan1, B Bardé, A M Zeiher
1Klinik für Psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie, Klinikum der Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. j.jordan@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Insights
Cardiopsychology integrates psychosocial factors in cardiac disease. This consensus conference systematizes extensive, yet contradictory, research to provide a reliable knowledge base for public health.
Area of Science:
- Cardiopsychology
- Psychosomatic Medicine
- Behavioral Cardiology
Context:
- Extensive research exists on psychosocial factors in cardiac diseases, particularly coronary heart disease.
- Existing knowledge is often incoherent and contradictory, necessitating systematization.
- A consensus conference involving 38 international scientists was convened to address this knowledge gap.
Purpose:
- To systematically review and evaluate worldwide scientific knowledge on psychosocial factors influencing the etiology, development, rehabilitation, and coping of coronary heart diseases.
- To establish a consensus-based, high-standard knowledge base for public health.
Summary:
- The project involved systematic reviews and intensive discussions among scientists to reach consensus on psychosocial factors in heart disease.
- Key areas explored include risk factor models, Type A behavior, sociological findings, illness behavior, predictive factors, and the impact of psychological interventions.
- Published reviews undergo rigorous revisions to ensure accuracy and agreement.
Impact:
- Provides a systematized and evaluated knowledge base on cardiopsychology for public health.
- Identifies practical variables such as social inequality, workplace stress, vital exhaustion, anxiety, depression, emotional state, social support, coping mechanisms, and psychological interventions.
- Ensures an extraordinary high standard of resulting reviews through a consensus-driven process.
Definition:
The term "cardiopsychology" contains the scientific knowledge with regard to psychosocial factors of the emergence, the course, the rehabilitation and the illness processing (coping) of cardiac diseases.
Studies:
Probably there is no psychosocial topic with so many presumably methodically high standing (namely representative prospective and controlled) long-term studies and so many reviews or metaanalyses as we have for cardiac diseases, particularly the coronary heart disease. The knowledge on cardiopsychology is extensive, incoherent and contradictory and in so far incalculable. A group of 38 international scientists came together 1998 and founded the "Status and Consensus Conference Cardiopsychology". The objective of the project is to systematize and evaluate the scientific knowledge about psychosocial factors affecting the etiology, development, rehabilitation of and coping with coronary heart diseases worldwide. The systematic reviews on the above mentioned subjects are intensively discussed and evaluated by all scientists involved in the status conferences. The reviews are finally published only after several revisions leading to a concurring consensus. This working process guarantees an extraordinary high standard of all resulting reviews. Thus the Public Health can be provided with a systematic knowledge basis. The reviews resulting from the status conferences are published as a special series in the publishing house Verlag für Akademische Schriften in Frankfurt, Germany. Besides all essentials are opened for the public and can be visited in the Internet: http://www.psychokardiologie.de.
Psychosocial Knowledge:
The essay on hand gives a short historical summary of this field of research and then discusses the psychosocial research to the risk factor model. After this the type A model, the sociological research results and the researches to the illness behavior are discussed. Predictive factors of the disease and effects of psychological interventions were presented.
Conclusion For The Practice:
The following variables are worked out as meaningful in the practice: social inequality and chronic emotional stress at the workplace, vital exhaustion, anxiety and depression, negative emotions, familial and social support, coping mechanisms and psychological interventions.