Effects of Living with an ICD: The Female Perspective

描述（由申请人提供）：植入式心律转复除颤器（ICD）已经成为一种有效的挽救生命的生物医学设备，可以通过电击来终止有心源性猝死风险的患者潜在致命的室性心律失常。在相当数量出现焦虑和抑郁临床症状的患者中，ICD的生存益处可能会减少。妇女已被确定为继发于心脏病的心理困扰的高危群体。先前的案例研究表明，认知行为社会心理干预可能有效地减少痛苦，尽管迄今为止还没有研究探索以群体为基础的社会心理干预对女性ICD患者的影响。这项研究是一个分两阶段的项目，其中检查妇女对ICD作出反应时表现出的适应模式，然后测试心理社会干预对女性ICD接受者的有效性。拟议的项目将检查干预对各种心理社会（焦虑、抑郁、社会支持）、生理（皮质醇、休克频率）和广泛的健康结果（一般和特定疾病的生活质量、心律失常）的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) has emerged as an effective and life-saving biomedical device that delivers an electrical shock to terminate potentially lethal ventricular arrhythmias in patients at risk for sudden cardiac death. The survival benefits of the ICD may be diminished in a sizable number of patients who develop clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and depression. Women have been identified as an at risk group for psychological distress secondary to cardiac disease. Prior case studies suggest that cognitive-behavioral psychosocial interventions may be effective in reducing distress although there are no studies to date exploring the impact of a group-based psychosocial intervention for female ICD patients. This study is a two phase project in which to examine the patterns of adjustment that women display in response to their ICD and to then test the effectiveness of a psychosocial intervention for a female population of ICD recipients. The proposed project will examine the effect of the intervention on a variety of psychosocial (anxiety, depression, social support), physiological (cortisol, shock frequency), and broad health outcomes (generic and disease specific quality of life, arrhythmias).