Association between Illness Perception and Emotional Status in Iranian Patients after Heart Transplantation

Background: heart transplantation is a major procedure which imposes high emotional stress on patients. illness perception (ip) is a psychological issue which affects psychological adjustment after transplantation. this study aimed to investigate the association between ip and emotional status in iranian post-heart transplantation patients. methods: the present cross-sectional study, conducted between 2018 and 2019 in imam khomeini hospital, tehran, iran, recruited 121 post-heart transplantation patients. ip was measured using the brief illness perception questionnaire (b-ipq), and emotional status was measured using the hospital anxiety and depression scale. the association between ip and depression/anxiety was assessed. results: men comprised 80.2% of the study population. the mean age of the participants was 43.9±12.95 years. definite caseness for depression and anxiety was reported in 11.6% and 18.2% of the participants, respectively. the median score of ip was 55. the association between anxiety and ip in total ip and the 3 dimensions of ip was statically significant (p=0.015, p=0.018, p=0.002, and p=0.023 for the cognition, emotion, and understanding dimensions and the total ipq, respectively). additionally, the association between depression and ip was significant (p=0.001, p=0.029, and p=0.002 for the cognition and emotion dimensions and the total ipq, correspondingly, except for the understanding dimension). furthermore, lower levels of anxiety in the patients showed a greater impact on ip than did depression. conclusion: there was a significant association between ip and depression and anxiety in our study population. therefore, the diagnosis and management of anxiety and depression in heart transplantation patients may improve ip. the cross-sectional design of the present study precluded an investigation of the causality between ip and emotional status.