Relationship Between Palpitation and Mental Health

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Psychiatry
• General Health

Background:

• Palpitations are a common cardiology complaint, often causing distress.
• Diagnostic evaluations for palpitations are frequently unrevealing.
• Psychiatric causes are increasingly recognized in patients with palpitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To screen for mental disorders in patients with palpitations.
• To compare mental health status between patients with benign palpitations and healthy individuals.

Main Methods:

• A case-control study was conducted with 110 adult volunteers.
• Participants included patients with benign palpitations and matched healthy controls.
• The 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used for screening.

Main Results:

• 85.4% of patients with palpitations scored above the GHQ-28 cut-off, versus 43.6% in controls (P < 0.001).
• Patients with palpitations showed significantly higher total GHQ-28 scores and subscale scores for somatization, anxiety, and social dysfunction.
• P-values for comparisons were < 0.001, 0.001, < 0.001, and 0.007 for total, somatization, anxiety, and social dysfunction, respectively.

Conclusions:

• Palpitations are frequently linked to psychiatric disorders, notably anxiety and somatization.
• Psychiatric factors play a significant role in Iranian patients presenting with benign palpitations.
• Recognizing psychiatric contributions can improve the management of benign palpitations.