Extrait

Background and study aims Chest pain is one of the most common reasons for attending an Accident & Emergency Department. Heart conditions often present with chest pain and many sufferers require emergency treatment to save their life. Most people who experience pain in the chest do not have any serious illness, but because of the potential fatal consequence of untreated heart disease, they are encouraged by medical professionals and publicly displayed advertisements, to seek help. Unfortunately there are very few services to deal with psychological causes of chest pain. Such patients are often inadequately managed, receiving a combination of support and reassurance that may reinforce rather than resolve the problem. We have developed a modification of cognitive behaviour therapy for chest pain (CBT-CP). It is administered mainly by trained general nurses and preliminary results have shown it to work well. Here, we want to test its value formally in a randomised controlled trial. Who can participate? Patients aged between 16 and 75 with significant chest pain for which no significant disease explaining the condition has been found. What does the study involve? Participants are randomly allocated into one of two groups. Those in group 1 (intervention) are given between 4 and 10 sessions of CBT-CP treatment over a three month period. The treatment involves an initial assessment with a trained therapist followed by 3 to 9 further sessions of treatment each lasing about an hour, the number depending on the complexity and speed of response to treatment. Those in group 2 (control) are given the standard care offered by cardiology and other hospital clinics by general practitioners. Each patient is followed over a one year period and in which they undergo assessments of their anxiety levels, depression, amount of pain and discomfort experienced and general quality of life. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? No adverse effects have been noted to date. Where is the study run from? The trial is being run from the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Kings Mill Hospital and the Hillingdon Hospital in the UK. When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? July 2012 to March 2016. Who is funding the study? National Institute for Health Research (UK) Who is the main contact? 1. Mrs Sylvia Cooper (public) [email protected] 2. Professor Peter Tyrer (scientific) [email protected]

Critère d'inclusion

• Topic: Mental Health; Subtopic: Anxiety, Stress-related and somatoform; Disease: Anxiety, Stress-related and somatoform disorders

Liens

• ictrp
• isrctn