Chest pain and the treatment of psychosocial/emotional distress in CAD patients

Treatment of psychosocial/emotional distress as a strategy for diminishing chest pain in such patients remains entirely unutilized in standard care. S ixty-three patients with known or suspected CAD were entered in an aggressi ve lifestyle modification program. Patients completed the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL90R) at the diagnostic interview session, at 3 and at 12 mo nths. Statistically significant drops were observed on multiple scales of t he SCL90R at both 3 and 12 months. An item from the SCL90R was wed as a pro xy for angina, Multiple measures of emotional distress at baseline were fou nd to correlate with chest pain at baseline, but not a number of traditiona l cardiovascular risk factors The chest pain item displayed improvement at both 3 and 12 months. Improvement on all scales of the SCL90R correlated wi th improvement in chest pain. It may be possible to control chest pain in s ome CAD patients with psychosocial interventions.