Volume 15, Number 5, September-October 2008

The patient’s experience of heart palpitations and the cardiology consultation: an exploratory study
Jackie Gordon, Richard Vincent, Richard Bowskill

An exploratory study with individual interviews before seeing the cardiologist, one week after the appointment, and at three-month follow-up was conducted to explore how participants’ perception and experience of heart palpitations are affected by seeing a cardiologist. Eleven of 20 participants cited anxiety as a possible cause of palpitations. A similar number were worried about their heart. After seeing the cardiologist, 7/20 participants thought something serious may have been missed, only one out of seven of whom had a clinically significant arrhythmia. It was reported that cardiologists did not address the role of psychological factors. Seven of the 20 participants still had heart-related health concerns at three months.

Br J Cardiol 2008;15:249.

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