Online therapy for worry about the heart after a heart attack
Tests online cognitive behavioral therapy for heart worry in adults after acute coronary syndrome.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Internet-based Behavioral Intervention Following ACS
Key facts
- Where
- Stockholm, SwedenSee the site
Where in Sweden
- Karolinska University HospitalStockholm, SwedenTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- Karolinska Institutet
- Trial code
- NCT06298864
- Record updated
- 16 September 2025
- Original description
The aim of this study is to evaluate if an online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) protocol customized for patients following Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS), reduce cardiac anxiety, enhance Quality of Life (QoL), and promote increased physical activity while controlling for caregiver attention, utilizing an active control group receiving internet-based cardiac lifestyle intervention.Read full original descriptionShow less
Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Cardiac Anxiety Following Acute Coronary Syndrome: a Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing CBT to a Digital Lifestyle Intervention
The aim of this study is to evaluate if an online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) protocol customized for patients following Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS), reduce cardiac anxiety, enhance Quality of Life (QoL), and promote increased physical activity while controlling for caregiver attention, utilizing an active control group receiving internet-based cardiac lifestyle intervention.
Inclusion: ACS ≥ 6 months before assessment (type 1 MI STEMI/NSTEMI or unstable angina [UA]); Age 18 and older; Clinically significant cardiac anxiety that leads to distress and/or interferes with daily life (Cardiac Anxiety Questionnaire; CAQ: ≥18; Able to read and write in Swedish.
Exclusion: Planned coronary artery bypass surgery or percutaneous interventions; Significant valvular disease; Severe medical illness or an acute health threatening disease (e.g., cancer); Grade 3 hypertension (i.e., blood pressure ≥ 180 systolic and/or 110 diastolic); Severe mental illness requiring urgent psychiatric hospitalization or intervention, or risk of suicide; Alcohol or substance use disorder that would impede ability to complete study protocol; Heart failure New York heart Association class IV or ejection fraction ≤ 30%; Any medical restriction to physical exercise; Ongoing psychological treatment.