Psychosocial adjustment of patients with ventricular dysrhythmias

This study was conducted to document whether differences in psychosocial adjustment exist between cardiac arrest survivors and patients with recurrent ventricular dysrhythmias and to identify specific patient characteristics associated with psychosocial adjustment in those individuals who have experienced ventricular dysrhythmias with or without cardiac arrest. Nineteen cardiac arrest survivors and 21 ventricular dysrhythmia patients participated in the study. There was no significant difference in psychosocial adjustment between the two groups. The characteristics that were found to be predictive of psychosocial adjustment in patients with ventricular dysrhythmias were marital status, number of dysrhythmic events, and history of heart failure.