Factors influencing the time to the occurrence of the first anxiety episode in heart transplant recipients

Material/Methods: 36 heart transplant recipients have been evaluated during the first 8 weeks after OHT. Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale was used every week in each patient. Cox regression analysis was used to specify, which of 11 studied demographic and medical factors could influence the time to the occurrence of the first anxiety episode. Kaplan-Meier curves enabled us to track the periods of the highest morbidity risk.
Results: The probability of anxiety during the first 8 weeks after the
transplantation was 52.5%. The first episode most commonly took place between the second and the fourth week after the transplantation. Anxiety syndrome took place earlier in patients with more numerous "false alarms" (number of requests to arrive to medical centre not finished with transplantation), and accompanying diseases. A strong anxiety occurred earlier in patients that had transplantation due to ischemic cardiomyopathy and in patients with more numerous "false alarms".
Conclusions: The first occurrence of anxiety episode is the most probable
between the second and the fourth week after transplantation. These episodes occur earlier in patients with accompanying somatic diseases, in patients that had transplantation due to ischemic cardiomyopathy and in persons that had more numerous "false alarms".

Keywords: Heart Transplantation