What Do We Know About Young Adult Cardiac Patients' Experience? A Systematic Review

Background: Studies interested in patients coping with a cardiac illness usually focus on children, teenagers, and adults above the age of 55. Apart from the field of congenital heart diseases, there is a general lack of literature regarding young adult cardiac patients (18–55 years old) who seem to...

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Main Authors: Jonathan Journiac, Christel Vioulac, Anne Jacob, Coline Escarnot, Aurélie Untas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01119/full
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author Jonathan Journiac
Christel Vioulac
Anne Jacob
Coline Escarnot
Aurélie Untas
author_facet Jonathan Journiac
Christel Vioulac
Anne Jacob
Coline Escarnot
Aurélie Untas
author_sort Jonathan Journiac
collection DOAJ
description Background: Studies interested in patients coping with a cardiac illness usually focus on children, teenagers, and adults above the age of 55. Apart from the field of congenital heart diseases, there is a general lack of literature regarding young adult cardiac patients (18–55 years old) who seem to cope with psychosocial issues. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to gather all the research carried out concerning the psychological experiences of young adult cardiac patients.Methods and Results: A comprehensive, systematic review was conducted on quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method studies in PsycINFO, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane Library databases. Out of the 10,747 articles found, 32 were included. While we aimed to include many cardiac diseases, coronary patients dominated the data. Five main themes emerged: emotional states (depression, anxiety, emotional distress, and stress), quality of life (health-related quality of life, physical functioning, and sexuality), adjusting to the medical environment (coping with the disease, health behavior change, financial barriers, and interactions with medical professionals), social life (social support and work), and identity (parenthood, new challenges, and new meanings). The results highlighted that their levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and quality of life were sometimes worse than in the general population and than in older and younger patients coping with a cardiac illness. Social isolation, identity changes, work, and parenthood were the specific challenges that this population had to face. Furthermore, young adult cardiac patients showed worse health behavior profiles than the general population and felt that they lacked information from professionals, especially regarding sexuality. Compared to men, women had worse psychosocial outcomes, especially regarding depression, stress, emotional distress, and quality of life.Conclusions: Young adult cardiac patients are to be considered with their own identity and challenges. They may be in need of specific interventions, some dedicated to women, and better communication is necessary with their families and professional caregivers so as to improve the patient's mental health, quality of life, coping skills, and adherence.
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spelling doaj.art-39270c534abd493f8b0e5a80f2c3a60e2022-12-21T19:25:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-07-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.01119514733What Do We Know About Young Adult Cardiac Patients' Experience? A Systematic ReviewJonathan JourniacChristel VioulacAnne JacobColine EscarnotAurélie UntasBackground: Studies interested in patients coping with a cardiac illness usually focus on children, teenagers, and adults above the age of 55. Apart from the field of congenital heart diseases, there is a general lack of literature regarding young adult cardiac patients (18–55 years old) who seem to cope with psychosocial issues. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to gather all the research carried out concerning the psychological experiences of young adult cardiac patients.Methods and Results: A comprehensive, systematic review was conducted on quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method studies in PsycINFO, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane Library databases. Out of the 10,747 articles found, 32 were included. While we aimed to include many cardiac diseases, coronary patients dominated the data. Five main themes emerged: emotional states (depression, anxiety, emotional distress, and stress), quality of life (health-related quality of life, physical functioning, and sexuality), adjusting to the medical environment (coping with the disease, health behavior change, financial barriers, and interactions with medical professionals), social life (social support and work), and identity (parenthood, new challenges, and new meanings). The results highlighted that their levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and quality of life were sometimes worse than in the general population and than in older and younger patients coping with a cardiac illness. Social isolation, identity changes, work, and parenthood were the specific challenges that this population had to face. Furthermore, young adult cardiac patients showed worse health behavior profiles than the general population and felt that they lacked information from professionals, especially regarding sexuality. Compared to men, women had worse psychosocial outcomes, especially regarding depression, stress, emotional distress, and quality of life.Conclusions: Young adult cardiac patients are to be considered with their own identity and challenges. They may be in need of specific interventions, some dedicated to women, and better communication is necessary with their families and professional caregivers so as to improve the patient's mental health, quality of life, coping skills, and adherence.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01119/fullyoungadultscardiacexperiencereview
spellingShingle Jonathan Journiac
Christel Vioulac
Anne Jacob
Coline Escarnot
Aurélie Untas
What Do We Know About Young Adult Cardiac Patients' Experience? A Systematic Review
Frontiers in Psychology
young
adults
cardiac
experience
review
title What Do We Know About Young Adult Cardiac Patients' Experience? A Systematic Review
title_full What Do We Know About Young Adult Cardiac Patients' Experience? A Systematic Review
title_fullStr What Do We Know About Young Adult Cardiac Patients' Experience? A Systematic Review
title_full_unstemmed What Do We Know About Young Adult Cardiac Patients' Experience? A Systematic Review
title_short What Do We Know About Young Adult Cardiac Patients' Experience? A Systematic Review
title_sort what do we know about young adult cardiac patients experience a systematic review
topic young
adults
cardiac
experience
review
url https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01119/full
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