Continuous event recorders did not affect anxiety or quality of life in patients with palpitations.
OBJECTIVE
Palpitations can generate feelings of anxiety and decrease quality of life (QoL) due to fear of a cardiac abnormality. Continuous event recorders (CERs) have proven to be successful in diagnosing causes of palpitations but may affect patient QoL and anxiety. The aim is to determine anxiety and health-related (HR)-QoL and evaluate the burden of carrying a CER in general practice populations.


METHODS
Patients (n=244) participated in a randomized trial. One group (n=127) carried a CER during 4 weeks. One hundred and seventeen patients formed the usual care (UC) group. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) were administered at study inclusion, after 1, 6 months.


RESULTS
At baseline, patients reported greater anxiety and lower QoL than healthy populations. The CER group had three times more cardiac diagnoses than the UC group. No differences were found between CER group and UC group at 6 weeks. At 6 months, the UC group showed QoL improvement and less anxiety compared to the CER group. Type of diagnosis had influence, but did not fully explain these differences.


CONCLUSIONS
A CER does not negatively influence anxiety or QoL. Better outcomes in the UC group might be attributed to less cardiac diagnosis and more emphasis on psychological well-being.
Hoefman
Emmy
E
Department of General Practice, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, PO Box 22700, 1100 DE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. e.hoefman@amc.nl
Boer
Kimberly R
KR
van Weert
Henk C P M
HC
Reitsma
Johannes B
JB
Koster
Rudolf W
RW
Bindels
Patrick J P
PJ
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory / Q000523:psychology*; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life