Key result
Higher illness threat perception is linked to poorer cognitive function after CAD.
Why the study?
Coronary artery disease is a leading cause of morbidity worldwide that affects physical health, cognition, psychological well-being, and engagement in recovery programmes, prompting the assessment of illness perception, cognitive function, and cardiac rehabilitation expectations in post-CAD patients.
Cross-Sectional (n=60)
No
Post-CAD patients in South India exhibit high perceived illness threat that inversely correlates with cognitive function, highlighting the need for integrated cardiac rehabilitation addressing psychological, cognitive, family, and livelihood barriers.
May inform integrated psychological-cognitive assessment in post-CAD recovery; leaves open causal links and intervention effects.
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of morbidity worldwide, affecting not only physical health but also cognition, psychological well-being and engagement in recovery programmes. Therefore, it is of interest to assess the illness perception, cognitive function and cardiac rehabilitation expectations among 60 post-CAD patients attending a tertiary-care cardiology centre in Chennai. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) were administered, followed by semi-structured interviews with a qualitative subsample. Findings showed that 80% of patients had normal cognitive function while 86.67% reported a high perceived illness threat, with a significant negative correlation between the two (r = -0.35, p = 0.01). Qualitative analysis revealed three themes: perceived uncertainty and stress as illness triggers, importance of family support and barriers to rehabilitation, particularly time and livelihood constraints. Thus, data shows the need for integrated cardiac rehabilitation programmes that address cognitive, emotional and contextual dimensions of recovery.
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Bharathi Shankar (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Post-coronary artery disease (post-MI, post-PCI, or post-CABG) (n=60). Illness perception (Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire [BIPQ]) was evaluated on Correlation between illness perception (BIPQ score) and cognitive function (MMSE score) (r = -0.35, p=0.01). Illness threat perception was high in 86.67% of post-CAD patients and negatively correlated with cognitive function (r = -0.35, p = 0.01), though 80.00% maintained normal cognition.
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