Patients Undergoing PCI - Effects of Psychological Distress
Emphasis is placed on educating coronary heart disease patients about lifestyle choices to reduce the risk of further cardiovascular events, but little attention has been paid to the impact of attentional capacity on patients' learning. The purpose of this study is to identify and compare the capacity for direct attention and the effect of psychological distress during hospitalization and 6 weeks after percutaneous coronary intervention. Forty subjects, mean age of 63 years, 27 men and 13 women, completed components of the Wechsler Memory Test to measure direct attention, and the Profile of Mood States. There were significant differences in the Digit Span Test-backward, a measure of working memory ( t =-2.79; p <0.009), and the Profile of Mood States total score, a measure of psychological distress ( t =3.183; p <0.003), from hospitalization to 6 weeks post-percutaneous coronary intervention. Data demonstrate psychological distress and reduced capacity for direct attention during hospitalization indicating that hospital environments are suboptimal for learning.
Patient education, a primary intervention to promote knowledge of healthy lifestyles, is a challenge both in health and during illness. With the increase in cardiovascular (CV) treatment and care being provided in shorter lengths of hospital stays, patients and their families are being asked to learn new healthy lifestyle information, skills, and strategies in shorter periods of time. Despite continued effort to focus on providing quality preventive education, patients and their families are often confused by the volume and complexity of medical information that they receive from the various health care providers during a CV hospitalization.
During the past several decades, it has become apparent that a person's risk of developing recurrent CV events is determined by the interaction of environmental and hereditary factors. Except in those with a high-risk genetic profile, a person's lifestyle is the major determinant of early-onset coronary heart disease (CHD). Data from observational studies demonstrate that there are a number of lifestyle factors, such as limited physical activity, cigarette smoking, and consumption of calorie-dense foods that can initiate the atherosclerotic process, but it is the long-term exposure to these factors that lead to the clinical manifestations of CHD. Sustained changes in these lifestyle factors can lead to substantial risk reduction in recurrent CHD events, but patients need to have knowledge and support from their health care providers to alter and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
There has been a significant amount of emphasis in clinical practice and research that focuses on the development of educational interventions to address lifestyle choices. Much less attention has been given to pursuing and understanding the way patients learn, the effect of hospital environments on learning, and the process of lifestyle interventions and counseling for CHD. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify and compare the level of capacity for direct attention and the effects of psychological distress during hospitalization to measurements at 6 weeks after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to assess perceived effectiveness capacity for learning.
Emphasis is placed on educating coronary heart disease patients about lifestyle choices to reduce the risk of further cardiovascular events, but little attention has been paid to the impact of attentional capacity on patients' learning. The purpose of this study is to identify and compare the capacity for direct attention and the effect of psychological distress during hospitalization and 6 weeks after percutaneous coronary intervention. Forty subjects, mean age of 63 years, 27 men and 13 women, completed components of the Wechsler Memory Test to measure direct attention, and the Profile of Mood States. There were significant differences in the Digit Span Test-backward, a measure of working memory ( t =-2.79; p <0.009), and the Profile of Mood States total score, a measure of psychological distress ( t =3.183; p <0.003), from hospitalization to 6 weeks post-percutaneous coronary intervention. Data demonstrate psychological distress and reduced capacity for direct attention during hospitalization indicating that hospital environments are suboptimal for learning.
Patient education, a primary intervention to promote knowledge of healthy lifestyles, is a challenge both in health and during illness. With the increase in cardiovascular (CV) treatment and care being provided in shorter lengths of hospital stays, patients and their families are being asked to learn new healthy lifestyle information, skills, and strategies in shorter periods of time. Despite continued effort to focus on providing quality preventive education, patients and their families are often confused by the volume and complexity of medical information that they receive from the various health care providers during a CV hospitalization.
During the past several decades, it has become apparent that a person's risk of developing recurrent CV events is determined by the interaction of environmental and hereditary factors. Except in those with a high-risk genetic profile, a person's lifestyle is the major determinant of early-onset coronary heart disease (CHD). Data from observational studies demonstrate that there are a number of lifestyle factors, such as limited physical activity, cigarette smoking, and consumption of calorie-dense foods that can initiate the atherosclerotic process, but it is the long-term exposure to these factors that lead to the clinical manifestations of CHD. Sustained changes in these lifestyle factors can lead to substantial risk reduction in recurrent CHD events, but patients need to have knowledge and support from their health care providers to alter and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
There has been a significant amount of emphasis in clinical practice and research that focuses on the development of educational interventions to address lifestyle choices. Much less attention has been given to pursuing and understanding the way patients learn, the effect of hospital environments on learning, and the process of lifestyle interventions and counseling for CHD. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify and compare the level of capacity for direct attention and the effects of psychological distress during hospitalization to measurements at 6 weeks after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to assess perceived effectiveness capacity for learning.
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