Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Patients Reporting Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression After Myocardial Infarction : U-CARE Heart Randomized Controlled Trial Twelve-Month Follow-up

Background: The U-CARE Heart trial was one of the first randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effect of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy on self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression for patients with a recent myocardial infarction. While the effects of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy on Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) scores at 14 weeks postbaseline were not significant, in this study, we investigated possible long-term effects of treatment. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy on self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients 12 months after a myocardial infarction and to explore subsequent occurrences of cardiovascular disease events. Methods: Shortly after acute myocardial infarction, 239 patients (33% female, mean age 59.6 years) reporting mild-to-moderate symptoms of anxiety or depression were randomized to 14 weeks of therapist-guided internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (n=117) or treatment as usual (n=122). Data from national registries were used to explore group differences in clinical outcomes such as cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular-related mortality for a follow-up period of up to 5 years: group differences in HADS total score 1 year post-myocardial infarction, the primary outcome, was analyzed using multiple linear regression. Secondary outcomes, such as HADS anxiety and depression subscales and the Cardiac Anxiety Questionnaire total score (CAQ), which measures heart-focused anxiety, were analyzed in the same way. Multiple imputation was used to account for missing data, and a pooled treatment effect was estimated. Adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for data pertaining to registry outcomes. Results: Both groups reported lower HADS total scores 1 year after myocardial infarction than those at baseline. HADS total scores were not significantly