IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i3p2521-d1052415.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Non-Cardiac Chest Pain as a Persistent Physical Symptom: Psychological Distress and Workability

Author

Listed:
  • Sigrún Ólafsdóttir Flóvenz

    (Department of Psychology, Reykjavik University, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland)

  • Paul Salkovskis

    (Oxford Centre for Psychological Health, Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training and Research Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre, Warneford Hospital, Oxford University, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK)

  • Erla Svansdóttir

    (The National Hospital of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
    Faculty of Psychology, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland)

  • Hróbjartur Darri Karlsson

    (Spitalzentrum Biel, 2501 Biel, Switzerland)

  • Karl Andersen

    (The National Hospital of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
    Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland)

  • Jón Friðrik Sigurðsson

    (Department of Psychology, Reykjavik University, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
    Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland)

Abstract

Non-Cardiac Chest Pain (NCCP) is persistent chest pain in the absence of identifiable cardiac pathology. Some NCCP cases meet criteria for Persistent Physical Symptoms (PPS), where the symptoms are both persistent and distressing/disabling. This study aimed to identify patients that might need specialist treatment for PPS by examining cases of NCCP that meet PPS criteria. We analysed data from 285 chest pain patients that had received an NCCP diagnosis after attending an emergency cardiac department. We compared NCCP patients who did and did not meet the additional criteria for heart-related PPS and hypothesised that the groups would differ in terms of psychological variables and workability. We determined that NCCP patients who meet PPS criteria were more likely than other NCCP patients to be inactive or unable to work, reported more general anxiety and anxiety about their health, were more depressed, ruminated more, and, importantly, had a higher number of other PPS. A high proportion of NCCP patients meet PPS criteria, and they are similar to other PPS patients in terms of comorbidity and disability. This highlights the importance of focusing psychological interventions for this subgroup on the interplay between the range of physical and psychological symptoms present.

Suggested Citation

  • Sigrún Ólafsdóttir Flóvenz & Paul Salkovskis & Erla Svansdóttir & Hróbjartur Darri Karlsson & Karl Andersen & Jón Friðrik Sigurðsson, 2023. "Non-Cardiac Chest Pain as a Persistent Physical Symptom: Psychological Distress and Workability," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-10, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2521-:d:1052415
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2521/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2521/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elín Broddadóttir & Sigrún Ólafsdóttir Flóvenz & Haukur Freyr Gylfason & Þórey Þormar & Hjalti Einarsson & Paul Salkovskis & Jón Friðrik Sigurðsson, 2021. "“I’m So Tired”: Fatigue as a Persistent Physical Symptom among Working People Experiencing Exhaustion Disorder," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-12, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2521-:d:1052415. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.