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Interventions for Cardiovascular Patients with Type D Personality: A Systematic Review
Xi Cao1, Eliza M L Wong2, Kai Chow Choi2
1Doctoral candidate, the Nethersole School of Nursing, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Insights
Cardiac rehabilitation effectively improves psychological health, physical functioning, and quality of life in patients with cardiovascular disease and Type D personality. Further research is needed to determine optimal intervention delivery formats.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Psychology
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading global cause of mortality.
- Type D personality is an emerging risk factor associated with poorer cardiac outcomes.
- Interventions for CVD patients with Type D personality warrant investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize evidence on interventions for cardiac patients with Type D personality.
- To evaluate the effects of these interventions on patient health outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of experimental studies published in English and Chinese databases up to December 2014.
- Inclusion criteria focused on interventions for cardiac patients with Type D personality.
- Outcomes assessed included psychological health, physical functioning, and quality of life.
Main Results:
- Four studies (1 RCT, 3 pre-post) involving 967 patients were included.
- Interventions consisted of cardiac rehabilitation programs with exercise, education, and psychological support.
- Cardiac rehabilitation significantly improved anxiety, depression, physical functioning, and quality of life.
Conclusions:
- Cardiac rehabilitation shows promise as an effective intervention for improving health in cardiac patients with Type D personality.
- Preliminary evidence supports its use, but optimal delivery requires further exploration.
Background:
Cardiovasculardisease (CVD) is a major cause of death worldwide. Type D personality, a newly identified risk factor for cardiac outcomes, can deteriorate the health outcomes of CVD patients. Several interventional studies have been conducted on CVD patients with type D personality.
Aim:
To provide the best available evidence of the effects and characteristics of interventions applied to cardiac patients with type D personality.
Methods:
Experimental studies on the effects of interventions for cardiac patients with type D personality were reviewed. English and Chinese electronic databases were searched from inception to December 2014. The eligibility and quality of each article were reviewed by two independent reviewers. The outcomes of interest included psychological health (anxiety & depression), physical functioning, and quality of life. Data were synthesized in a narrative form rather than meta-analysis because of the heterogeneity of studies and the insufficient data for statistical pooling.
Results:
Four studies (one randomized controlled trial and three single-group pre- and posttests) involving 967 cardiac patients were identified. The quality of included studies was moderate, with three studies rated as fair and one study rated as poor. Cardiac rehabilitation programs were the interventions identified in all the included studies, with main components of physical exercise, patient education, psychological intervention, and individual counseling. The findings of this review indicated that cardiac rehabilitation can significantly reduce anxiety and depression, improve physical functioning, and quality of life in cardiac patients with type D personality. The evidence of optimal duration, frequency of interventions, and length of each session was not established.
Linking Evidence To Action:
This review provides preliminary evidence for the use of cardiac rehabilitation as an effective intervention to improve health outcomes in cardiac patients with type D personality. The optimal delivery format of the intervention for cardiac patients with type D personality needs to be explored.
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