Prevalence of Moderate to Severe Anxiety Symptoms among Patients with Myocardial Infarction: a Meta-Analysis

This study attempted to synthesize the evidence on the prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety symptoms among myocardial infarction (MI) patients to offer a reliable and accurate estimate on the number of MI patients suffering from moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. Comprehensive electronic searches (PubMed, Embase and Web of Science) were performed from their inception to February 2021. Between-study heterogeneity was analyzed using the Cochran ’sQ test and\({I}^{2}\) statistic, and if it was high across the eligible studies, meta-regression and subgroup analyses were conducted to examine the source of heterogeneity. Publication bias and the robustness of the pooled results were also examined. A total of 18 eligible studies covering 8,532 MI patients were included, of which 3,443 were identified with moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. Between-study heterogeneity was high (\({I}^{2}\)=98.8%) with the reported prevalence ranging from 9.6% to 69.17%, and the pooled prevalence was 38.08% (95% confidence interval: 28.82 –47.81%) by a random-effects model. Meta-regression analyses indicated that publication year (β = −0.014) was significant moderators contributing 16.11% to the heterogeneity. Subgroup analyses indicated that studies using the anxiety subscale of Brief Symptom Inventory to assess anxiety were homogenous (\({I}^{2}\)=0.0). Furthermore, the pooled prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety symptoms varied significantly by geographic region, instrument u...
Source: Psychiatric Quarterly - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research