Abstract

Chest pain is often the herald of cardiovascular disease and is one of the most common diagnostic challenges encountered by practicing clinicians. Coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is an anatomic test that can be used in intermediate-risk patients to provide a diagnostician with these answers quickly. Hence; the present study was conducted for evaluating psychological impact of test results following diagnostic coronary CT angiography. Materials & methods: A total of 30 nonacute cardiac patients were enrolled for diagnostic coronary CT angiography. A Performa was made and complete clinical and demographic details of all the patients was obtained. A questionnaire was developed and was filled by all the subjects prior to testing and following the receipt of test results, at which point illness perceptions and intentions to take cardiac medication, as well as diet and exercise intentions were measured. Changes on these variables were then compared between patients diagnosed with normal arteries and patients diagnosed with diseased arteries. All the results were recorded in Microsoft excel sheet and were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS software. Results: While assessing the illness psychological perception before and after coronary CT angiography among normal arteries at two different time intervals, significant results were obtained. However; while assessing the illness psychological perception before and after coronary CT angiography among diseased arteries at two different time intervals, non- significant results were obtained. Conclusion: From the above results, the authors concluded that Coronary CT angiography impacts psychologically on individuals in many significant ways

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