@ARTICLE{10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01801, AUTHOR={Princip, Mary and Scholz, Marco and Meister-Langraf, Rebecca E. and Barth, Jürgen and Schnyder, Ulrich and Znoj, Hansjörg and Schmid, Jean-Paul and Thayer, Julian F. and von Känel, Roland}, TITLE={Can Illness Perceptions Predict Lower Heart Rate Variability following Acute Myocardial Infarction?}, JOURNAL={Frontiers in Psychology}, VOLUME={7}, YEAR={2016}, URL={https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01801}, DOI={10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01801}, ISSN={1664-1078}, ABSTRACT={Objective: Decreased heart rate variability (HRV) has been reported to be a predictor of mortality after myocardial infarction (MI). Patients' beliefs and perceptions concerning their illness may play a role in decreased HRV. This study investigated if illness perceptions predict HRV at 3 months following acute MI.Methods: 130 patients referred to a tertiary cardiology center, were examined within 48 h and 3 months following acute MI. At admission, patients' cognitive representations of their MI were assessed using the German version of the self-rated Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Brief IPQ). At admission and after 3 months (follow-up), frequency and time domain measures of HRV were obtained from 5-min electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings during stable supine resting.Results: Linear hierarchical regression showed that the Brief IPQ dimensions timeline (β coefficient = 0.29; p = 0.044), personal control (β = 0.47; p = 0.008) and illness understanding (β = 0.43; p = 0.014) were significant predictors of HRV, adjusted for age, gender, baseline HRV, diabetes, beta-blockers, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), attendance of cardiac rehabilitation, and depressive symptoms.Conclusions: As patients' negative perceptions of their illness are associated with lower HRV following acute MI, a brief illness perception questionnaire may help to identify patients who might benefit from a specific illness perceptions intervention.} }