Emotional stress and subjective body experience of heart transplantation candidates.
We studied subjective complaints, psychological symptoms, and subjective appraisal of their body of 54 heart transplantation candidates at the time of admission to the waiting list using standardized psychological tests (GBB24, SCL-90-R, FBeK). The results of GBB24 and SCL90-R indicated high scores of strain before transplantation. In the FbeK, patients assessed their own body as worse than the normal population on all scales. Male patients displayed significantly higher scores of strain than women, but there was no difference in assessing their own bodies. The considerable scores of strain indicate the need for psychosomatic and psychotherapeutic interventions in a significant subgroup of patients.
Langenbach
M
M
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, St Marien-Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany. michael.langenbach@marien-hospital-bonn.de
Pietsch
D
D
Köhle
K
K
D001007:Anxiety; D001828:Body Image; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012016:Reference Values; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*; D014850:Waiting Lists