What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine psychophysiological and behavioral mechanisms linking worry and generalized anxiety disorder to cardiovascular function and coronary heart disease in individuals with and without existing cardiac disease.

January 16, 2013Psychology Health & MedicineOpen Access

A review of the affects of worry and generalized anxiety disorder upon cardiovascular health and coronary heart disease

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Why the study?

Does worry and generalized anxiety disorder affect cardiovascular function and coronary heart disease prognosis?

Key Points

To examine psychophysiological and behavioral mechanisms linking worry and generalized anxiety disorder to cardiovascular function and coronary heart disease in individuals with and without existing cardiac disease.
Narrative review of literature published between 1975 and 2011 identified through MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and PsycINFO database searches.
Synthesized findings from experimental, observational, etiological, and prognostic studies evaluating worry or generalized anxiety disorder in relation to cardiovascular function and heart disease outcomes.
Worry was consistently linked to diminished heart rate variability and elevated resting heart rate in disease-free cohorts, as well as higher blood pressure and hypertension in both healthy and cardiac populations.
Seven etiological studies connected worry to fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease in initially disease-free cohorts, and three studies found generalized anxiety disorder predicted poorer prognosis in established heart disease independent of depression.
Evaluation of 15 studies involving 3,266 patients with coronary heart disease identified a median generalized anxiety disorder prevalence of 10.4%.

Structured PICO

Does worry and generalized anxiety disorder affect cardiovascular function and coronary heart disease prognosis?

Population

Persons with and without coronary heart disease (CHD)

Intervention

Worry and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

Outcome

Cardiovascular function (heart rate variability, heart rate, blood pressure) and coronary heart disease prognosis (fatal and nonfatal CHD)

Worry and generalized anxiety disorder are associated with adverse cardiovascular physiological changes and an increased risk of developing coronary heart disease.

Limitations

Females were underrepresented in etiological studies
Findings regarding worry and GAD in established CHD are less clear

Discussion

No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.

Implication

Supports incorporating worry and GAD assessment into CHD care; leaves open whether anxiety interventions improve outcomes.

Cite This Study

Tully et al. (2013) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a7d403bc27a6c5c1c77607d https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2012.749355

Topics

Hypertension management

View Full Paper

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A review of the affects of worry and generalized anxiety disorder upon cardiovascular health and coronary heart disease

Key Points

Structured PICO

Limitations

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

Topics

A review of the affects of worry and generalized anxiety disorder upon cardiovascular health and coronary heart disease

Key Points

Structured PICO

Limitations

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

Also Consider

Topics

Also Consider