CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIA: SELECTED PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS PREDICTING RECOVERY AND REHABILITATION.
Contributors: Pacific Graduate School Of Psychology.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 176
Subjects: Psychology, General.; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study focuses on the course of recovery and rehabilitation of 103 patients who had in common the diagnosis of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia in addition to various other cardiac or other pre-existing conditions. The study posed two questions about these patients: Was a multidimensional approach important to understanding their rehabilitation progress, and Were there psychosocial variables that could predict their rehabilitation status? The results of the study supported a positive response to both questions.

The 103 participants of this study were recruited from the Stanford Medical Center Arrhythmia Clinic. Most of the participants were men and were middle-aged or older. Participants completed a questionnaire and their attending physicians evaluated their progress and the degree to which medical factors affected their progress. Patient progress was analyzed with 76 returned physician assessments.

The results revealed that behavioral and psychosocial factors were significantly associated with the course of recovery and rehabilitation for the arrhythmia patients in this study. A step-wise discriminant analysis with physician ratings of medical factors entered as a first step revealed that good rehabilitation status, after accounting for illness factors, was significantly associated with patient compliance, resumed life-style, health behavior, and having less pre-conscious activity.

Additionally, it was hypothesized that sense of personal control over illness, sense of social support, and stress level predicted rehabilitation status. A step-wise discriminant analysis with physician ratings of medical factors entered as a first step revealed that stress avoidance, perceived information, and perceived helpfulness, in combination, discriminated rehabilitation status.

This study supports the idea that there is a definite need to assess the recovery and rehabilitation of arrhythmia patients with respect to psychosocial factors after considering illness factors. Multiple dimensions of recovery were related to patient progress reports from patients' physicians. These findings have important clinical implications. Systematic assessment of pre-conscious anxiety specific to illness, health behaviors, pre-conscious stress avoidance, and the quality of the social network for all patients may help health care professions develop well-targeted treatment plans that address all aspects of recovery rather than being limited to medical and behavioral components.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-12, Section: B, page: 6648.

Thesis (PH.D.)--PACIFIC GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY, 1991.

School code: 0621.