Impact of anxiety disorders on adherence to anticoagulant therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation

Abstract

Aim. To evaluate the impact of anxiety disorders on adherence to anticoagulant therapy (ACT) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Materials and methods. 179 outpatients (131 women, 48 men, mean age 69.96.2 years) with AF were examined. The research methods included a physical examination according to the standards of medical care in an outpatient facility, clinical and psychopathological examination using psychometric scales. Results. Based on the assessment of adherence to ACT using the MoriskyGreen test, 2 groups of patients were identified: Group 1 patients with high adherence to ACT, Group 2 patients with partial/low adherence to ACT. In group 1, anxiety disorders were verified in 51.7% of cases, in group 2 54.3%. There were no statistically significant differences in the prevalence and severity of anxiety in the study groups. In accordance with the binary logistic regression model, the probability of high adherence to therapy is determined by higher (compared with the group of patients with partial/low adherence to therapy) scores in terms of mental health (p0.001), vital activity (p=0.02) and the total score of the SF-36 scale (p=0.08), as well as the extraversion parameter (p=0.02) of the NEO-FFI scale. Conclusion. In the present study, no significant association was found between anxiety symptoms and a decrease in adherence to ACT in patients with AF. However, the results obtained suggest a contribution to the adherence to therapy of personality characteristics.

Keywords

• atrial fibrillation
• adherence
• anticoagulant therapy
• anxiety disorders