Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Jul 19, 2025; 15(7): 106762
Published online Jul 19, 2025. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i7.106762
Influence of psychological care on anxiety and depression in older adult patients with coronary heart disease complicated by arrhythmia
Su Yang, Xiu-Mei Gao, Su-Juan Li, Xue Yang
Su Yang, Health Management Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou 121000, Liaoning Province, China
Xiu-Mei Gao, Cardiology Four Area, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou 121000, Liaoning Province, China
Su-Juan Li, Psychological Clinic, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou 121000, Liaoning Province, China
Xue Yang, Department of General Surgery (Large Intestine) Ward 1, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou 121000, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Yang S performed the study, designed the research, and wrote the manuscript; Yang S, Gao XM, Li SJ, and Yang X analyzed the data; and all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University.
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study because the analysis used anonymous clinical data that were obtained after each patient agreed to treatment by written consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: Dataset available from the corresponding author at yangxue10171207@126.com.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xue Yang, Department of General Surgery (Large Intestine) Ward 1, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, No. 2 Section 5 Renmin Street, Jinzhou 121000, Liaoning Province, China. yangxue10171207@126.com
Received: March 7, 2025
Revised: April 10, 2025
Accepted: May 6, 2025
Published online: July 19, 2025
Processing time: 124 Days and 21 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Coronary heart disease (CHD) has shown a consistent upward trend in global incidence in recent years. Notably, older adults with CHD complicated by arrhythmia exhibit significantly higher susceptibility to psychological distress compared with the general CHD population. This increased vulnerability has garnered growing clinical and research interest in the potential therapeutic benefits of structured psychological interventions for alleviating comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms in this high-risk demographic.

AIM

To evaluate the efficacy of psychological care in reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms among older adult patients with CHD and comorbid arrhythmia.

METHODS

This retrospective analysis included 100 patients with CHD and arrhythmia admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University from June 2024 to December 2024. Of these, 49 patients in the control group received routine care, whereas 51 patients in the observation group received psychological care in addition to routine care. Therapeutic outcomes were compared between the two groups. Psychological distress was assessed before and after providing nursing care. A treatment compliance scale developed by the hospital was used to assess adherence. Complication rates were also compared. Quality of life was evaluated using the Short Form-36 Health Survey after providing nursing care. Patient satisfaction with nursing care was assessed using a self-designed questionnaire.

RESULTS

The observation group demonstrated a higher overall treatment effectiveness compared with the control group (P < 0.05). After nursing care, both groups showed reduced scores on the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Self-Rating Depression Scale compared with baseline (P < 0.05), with significantly greater improvements in the observation group (P < 0.05). Treatment compliance was higher and complication rates were lower in the observation group (P < 0.05). Additionally, the observation group demonstrated better quality of life after 1 month of care and higher satisfaction with nursing services (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Psychological care for patients with CHD and comorbid arrhythmia effectively enhanced therapeutic outcomes, reduced anxiety and depression, improved treatment compliance and quality of life, and lowered the risk of complications. These findings support the broader implementation of psychological care for patients with CHD in clinical practice.

Keywords: Psychological care; Coronary heart disease; Arrhythmia; Anxiety; Depression

Core Tip: Psychological care interventions have led to statistically significant improvements in both emotional distress and treatment compliance among older adult patients with coronary heart disease. These interventions are associated with clinically meaningful reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms while enhancing treatment adherence and overall care. The implementation of structured psychological care protocols provides substantial long-term benefits for this patient population. Our findings indicate that such interventions are linked to a measurable reduction in cardiovascular event rates and significant improvements across multiple quality-of-life domains, including physical functioning, social functioning, and both emotional and physical role performance.