One in three patients with cardiovascular disease experiences increased anxiety and/or depression. However current treatments are limited in efficacy in reducing anxiety and depression. Wells et al (2022) evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of delivering assisted home-based self-help metacognitive therapy (home-MCT) to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) patients experiencing anxiety and depression. 

108 CR patients with high anxiety and/or depression were recruited to a single-blind randomized feasibility trial across two United Kingdom National Health Service Trusts and were randomly assigned to usual CR or usual CR plus home-MCT.

Recruitment and retention of participants was high, and attendance at CR was similar for both groups. Completion of home-MCT was high, but the quality of telephone support calls delivered was lower than expected. 

Home-MCT was found to be acceptable and feasible to deliver to CR patients with elevated anxiety and/or depression. Home-MCT may provide additional treatment options for cardiac patients experiencing psychological distress.

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