Talking therapies reduce anxiety and depression in working age heart patients

Cardiac rehabilitation was delivered over 8 weeks, with two 90-minute group sessions per week. The sessions included exercise, medication adjustment, and education on diet, smoking, physical activity, body weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, blood lipids, and psychological issues. Cardiac nurses led the CBT sessions after brief training and were supervised by a psychologist. Five sessions of 2 hours each were held for groups of 3 to 4 patients. In session 1, patients clarified their values, for example family and work, and reported difficulties caused by heart disease, such as poor sleep and exhaustion.

Compared with the control group, the CBT group had greater improvement in quality of life at 6 months, and a 57% lower risk of cardiac readmissions at 12 months.

Reference:

Talking therapies reduce anxiety and depression in working age heart patients; JOURNAL European Heart Journal, DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehac792