Conclusions We found that psychological intervention  improved psychological symptoms and reduced cardiac mortality for people with CHD .
However , there remains considerable uncertainty regarding the magnitude of these effects and the specific techniques most likely to benefit people with different presentations of CHD
Background Although psychological interventions are recommended for the management of coronary heart disease ( CHD ) , there remains considerable uncertainty regarding their effectiveness .
The outcomes of interpersonal counselling on depressive symptoms and distress after myocardial infarction
Aims : Depression is not treated adequately after myocardial infa rct ion ( MI ) . This study evaluates the interpersonal counselling ( IPC ) implemented by a registered nurse on outcomes for depressive symptoms and distress in MI patients . Methods : We studied MI patients ( n = 103 ) r and omized into intervention group ( n = 51 ) and control group ( n = 52 ) in hospital and at 6 and 18 months after discharge using vali date d question naires , Beck 's Depression Inventory ( BDI ) and the Symptom Checklist-25 ( SCL-25 ) . Results : During the 18-month follow-up , depressive symptoms decreased statistically significantly ( P = 0.009 ) in the intervention group compared with the control group . In the IPC intervention group , depressive symptoms decreased from 37.3 % to 20.4 % at 6 months ( P = 0.014 ) , and to 16.7 % at 18 months ( P = 0.001 ) , while distress decreased from 37.3 % to 26.5 % ( P = 0.132 ) during the 6-month follow-up , and to 20.8 % ( P = 0.015 ) . In the control group with normal care , the number of patients with depressive symptoms and distress varied slightly at the three measurements , from 30.2 to 39.6 % . Conclusions : The number of patients with depressive symptoms and distress decreased in the intervention group and remained high in the control group . The progress of severity level of depressive symptoms was toward milder symptoms in the intervention group during the 18-month follow-up . This brief intervention that can rapidly be adopted may result in enduring benefits of clinical value
Conclusions We found that psychological intervention  improved psychological symptoms and reduced cardiac mortality for people with CHD .
However , there remains considerable uncertainty regarding the magnitude of these effects and the specific techniques most likely to benefit people with different presentations of CHD
Background Although psychological interventions are recommended for the management of coronary heart disease ( CHD ) , there remains considerable uncertainty regarding their effectiveness .