Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jun 30, 2021
Date Accepted: Dec 8, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
The effect of Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy vs. psychoeducation only on psychological distress in patients with non-cardiac chest pain: a randomized controlled trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Patients with recurrent episodes of non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP) suffer from cardiac anxiety, as they misinterpret the pain to be cardiac-related and avoid physical activity that they think could threaten their lives. Psychological interventions, such as Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT), targeting anxiety can be a feasible solution by supporting patients to learn how to perceive and handle their chest pain.
Objective:
To evaluate the effects of a nurse-led iCBT program on cardiac anxiety and other patient-reported outcomes in patients with NCCP.
Methods:
Patients with at least two healthcare consultations due to NCCP during the last 6 months, and who were suffering from cardiac anxiety (Cardiac Anxiety Questionnaire (CAQ) score ≥24), were randomized into 5 weeks of iCBT (n=54) or psychoeducation (n=55). Patients were 54 (±17) vs 57 (±16) years old and mainly women (59% vs 64%). The iCBT program comprised psychoeducation, mindfulness, and exposure to physical activity, with weekly homework assignments. The primary outcome was cardiac anxiety. The secondary outcomes were fear of body sensations, depressive symptoms, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and chest pain frequency. Intention-to-treat analysis was applied, and patients were followed-up for three months. A mixed model analysis was used to determine between-group differences in primary and secondary outcomes.
Results:
No significant differences were found between the iCBT and psychoeducation groups regarding cardiac anxiety or any of the secondary outcomes in terms of interaction effect of time and group over the 3-months follow-up. iCBT demonstrated a small effect size on cardiac anxiety (Cohen’s d=0.31). In the iCBT group, 16 patients (36%) reported a positive reliable change score (≥11 points on the CAQ), and thus an improvement in cardiac anxiety, to be compared with 13 patients (27 %) in the psychoeducation group. Within-group analysis showed further significant improvement in cardiac anxiety (p=.037), depressive symptoms (p=.007) and of NCCP frequency (p=.005) at 3-months follow-up compared to 5-weeks follow-up in the iCBT group, but not in the psychoeducation group.
Conclusions:
iCBT was not superior to psychoeducation in decreasing cardiac anxiety in patients with NCCP. However, iCBT tends to have better long-term effects on psychological distress, including cardiac anxiety, HRQoL and NCCP frequency than psychoeducation. The effects need to be followed up in order to draw more reliable conclusions. Clinical Trial: The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03336112; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03336112
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