Findings on Acute Coronary Syndrome Reported by Investigators at Columbia University (Health Insurance, Perceived Threat, and Posttraumatic Stress After Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome): Heart Disorders and Diseases – Acute Coronary Syndrome

2024 JAN 03 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Heart Disease Daily -- Researchers detail new data in Heart Disorders and Diseases - Acute Coronary Syndrome. According to news reporting from New York City, New York, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Threat perceptions during evaluation for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the emergency department (ED) predict posttraumatic stress symptoms (PSS). It is unknown how health insurance status affects threat perceptions.”

Financial support for this research came from NIH National Heart Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI).

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Columbia University, “We tested whether lacking health insurance is associated with higher threat perceptions and PSS in patients with suspected ACS in the ED and whether threat perceptions mediate associations between lack of health insurance and subsequent PSS. Patients in the Columbia University Irving Medical Center ED with suspected ACS enrolled in an observational cohort study of psychological and cardiovascular outcomes. A multivariable linear regression model tested health insurance status as the predictor of ED threat perceptions and PSS 1-month posthospitalization, adjusting for age, gender, education, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events risk score. A bootstrapped mediation model tested health insurance status as the predictor, PSS 1-month posthospitalization as the outcome, and ED threat perceptions as the mediator, with the same covariates. Of 1,741 patients with suspected ACS in the ED (Mage = 61.01 years, SD = 13.27; 47.1% women), a plurality identified as ‘Other’ race (36.1%), Black (23.9%), and White (22.4%), and 10.3% of patients were uninsured. Lack of health insurance was associated with greater threat perceptions, b = -0.16, 95% CI [-0.26, -0.06], p = .002. Threat perceptions mediated the association between lack of health insurance and higher 1-month PSS, indirect effect = -1.04, 95% CI [-1.98, -0.17].”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Lacking health insurance may heighten threat perceptions during ACS evaluation, which may put patients at risk of developing PSS.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Health Insurance, Perceived Threat, and Posttraumatic Stress After Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome. Health Psychology, 2023. Health Psychology can be contacted at: Amer Psychological Assoc, 750 First St NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Jeffrey L. Birk, Columbia University, Irving Med Ctr, Ctr Behav & Cardiovasc Hlth, New York, NY, United States. Additional authors for this research include Margaret E. Murdock, Gaspar J. Cruz, Julia Ellis, Ian M. Kronish, Donald Edmondson and Lilly Derby.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001321. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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