PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF CHRONIC STABLE ANGINA-PECTORIS

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