PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF CHRONIC STABLE ANGINA-PECTORIS

Angina pectoris patients frequently report exacerbation of their symptoms during mental stress. However, while stress management training has been applied to a number of cardiovascular disorders it has not, as yet, received controlled evaluation in angina. The present study represented an attempt to remedy matters. Following cardiological evaluation twenty nine subjects with chronic stable angina were randomly assigned either to a cognitive-behavioural stress management training group or to a routine care group. Exercise tolerance, self-reported angina symptoms, medication use, and anxiety levels were monitored before and after intervention and at eight weeks follow-up. Stress management training was associated with improvements in symptomatology, reliance on medication, and exercise tolerance relative to routine care. Both groups reported reductions in anxiety over the study period.