Psychological responses to cardiac diagnosis: changes in illness representations immediately following coronary...

Coronary angiography is a commonly used diagnostic test for ischemic heart disease. Little is known, however, about how undergoing the procedure impacts on the ways in which individuals perceive their illness. We sought to explore patients' reactions to an angiogram in terms of changes in symptom appraisal, perceived consequences of their condition, and patients' illness concern and emotional response to their condition after the receiving diagnostic results.

The Brief IPQ was administered to patients undergoing a diagnostic coronary angiogram (N=57) before and immediately following the procedure. Changes in illness representations were then compared between patients diagnosed with diseased arteries and patients with normal arteries.

We found that the number of symptoms patients associated with their condition, illness consequences, and illness emotion decreased for patients receiving normal results but remained unchanged for patients receiving results showing diseased arteries. Illness concern decreased significantly for both patient groups.

The results demonstrate that diagnostic results can have clear and immediate effects on how patients' view and emotionally respond to their symptoms. The results also suggest that patients cognitively prepare themselves to receive an unfavorable diagnosis and the pattern suggests those receiving normal results modify their perceptions in a positive direction rather than those receiving an unfavorable diagnosis.