WASHINGTON — More than half of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions reported in a survey that they were “worried a little” about repeat revascularization, said Dan Greenberg, Ph.D., in a poster presented at a scientific forum sponsored by the American Heart Association.
Improved physician-patient communication may especially benefit patients with a history of revascularization, said Dr. Greenberg of the Harvard Clinical Research Institute, Boston, and colleagues, on the basis of the responses of 382 patients to a self-administered questionnaire.
Of the patients, 54% said they were “worried a little,” 17% said they were “worried a lot,” and 29% said they were “not worried at all” about the chance their blockages would return. In terms of risk perception, 49% rated their risk as the same as that of a typical patient, 32% perceived their risk as lower, and 20% perceived their risk as higher.
In a univariate analysis, patients with a history of myocardial infarction had a significantly higher perceived risk of repeat revascularization, compared with patients without history of MI. Patients with prior percutaneous coronary interventions or psychiatric conditions and those who were smokers at the time of the procedure were significantly more concerned about repeat surgery, compared with patients without those characteristics. Both increased concern and a greater perceived risk were significantly associated with younger age and worse health-related quality of life.
Most of the patients were white (94%), and male (75%), with an average age of 63 years. A fifth were past or current smokers, 24% had a previous coronary artery bypass graft, 38% had a previous acute MI, 41% had a previous angioplasty, and 17% had a psychiatric condition, he said.