The Effects of Watching the Monitor Screen During Cardiac Catheterization on Patients' Outcomes

Abstract

Background: The emotional, cognitive and behavioral effects on patients caused by watching the monitor screen during cardiac catheterization were investigated, including potential mediators (illness perceptions) and moderators (individual differences in monitoring coping style). Methods: An experiment was conducted, comparing patients instructed to watch the monitor screen during the procedure with those that were not. Questionnaires measuring illness perceptions, monitoring coping style, emotional, cognitive and behavioral variables associated with cardiac health were collected one day and one month after the procedure. Results: watching the angiography screen during the procedure increased cardiac patients’ personal and treatment control perceptions, which in turn increased their functional self-efficacy and outcome expectancies regarding lifestyle changes, improved their self-assessed health, and decreased negative affect. Behavior-related benefits of watching the screen were moderated by monitoring coping style, which was correlated positively with the benefits of watching the screen. Conclusions: these findings illustrate the significance of illness perceptions, perceived control and monitoring coping style in achieving desirable outcomes, and open new opportunities for psychological interventions using medical imaging technologies.