TY - JOUR AU - Princip, Mary AU - Pazhenkottil, Aju P. AU - Barth, Jürgen AU - Schnyder, Ulrich AU - Znoj, Hansjörg AU - Schmid, Jean-Paul AU - Langraf-Meister, Rebecca E. AU - von Känel, Roland AU - Ledermann, Katharina PY - 2022 M3 - Original Research TI - Effect of Early Psychological Counseling for the Prevention of Posttraumatic Stress Induced by Acute Coronary Syndrome at Long-Term Follow-Up JO - Frontiers in Psychiatry UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.846397 VL - 13 SN - 1664-0640 N2 - ObjectivePsychological consequences of myocardial infarction (MI) are substantial, as 4% of all MI patients develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 12% clinically relevant posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). The study investigated the course and development within 12 months of MI-induced PTSS to gain novel insights in potentially delayed response to early trauma-focused counseling aimed at preventing the incidence of MI-induced PTSS.MethodsIn the MI-SPRINT two-group randomized controlled trial, 190 MI-patients were randomly allocated to receive a single-session intervention of either trauma-focused counseling or an active control intervention targeting the general role of stress in patients with heart disease. Blind interviewer-rated PTSS (primary outcome) and additional health outcomes were assessed at 12-month follow-up.Results12-month follow-up of outcomes were available for 106 (55.8%) of 190 participants: In the entire sample, one patient (0·5%, 1/190) who received trauma-focused counseling developed full PTSD. There was no significant difference between trauma-focused counseling and stress counseling regarding total score of interviewer-rated PTSS (p > 0.05). The only group difference emerged in terms of more severe hyperarousal symptoms in the trauma-focused counseling group in the ITT analysis, but not in the completer analysis.ConclusionsNo benefits were found for trauma-focused counseling after 12 months when compared with an active control intervention. PTSD prevalence in the present study was low highlighting a potential beneficial effect of both interventions. Further studies are needed to determine the most accurate approach of counseling. ER -