Psychological distress among postural tachycardia syndrome patients in the Fennell Crisis phase

ABSTRACT

Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a chronic illness that disrupts the autonomic nervous system and decreases quality of life. The Fennell Phase Inventory is a developmental instrument that divides the experience of chronic illness into four phases: Crisis, Stabilization, Resolution, and Integration. This study applied the Fennell Phase Inventory to POTS patients. Methods: 360 women with a primary diagnosis of POTS completed the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF scale, Fennell Phase Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire-15, Ten Item Personality Inventory, and the Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised. Results: Among these POTS patients, 35.8% were in the Fennell Crisis phase, 14.7% Stabilization, 46.7% Resolution, and 2.8% were in the Integration phase. One-way analyses of variance showed significant differences between the four Fennell groups on Overall Quality of Life, Physical Health, Psychological Health, Social Health, Depression, Hopelessness, Thwarted Belongingness, and Perceived Burdensomeness. Post hoc tests revealed that the Crisis group was more distressed than the other three groups on nearly every symptom scale (p < .05), but that the Stabilization, Resolution, and Integration groups were statistically similar to each other. Conclusions: Nearly one-third of participants were in Crisis, a phase characterized by lower quality of life and significant psychological distress. Recognizing and addressing the concerns of POTS patients according to their current chronic illness phase may help decrease the overall trauma experienced by the patient and improve compliance to proposed treatment regimens.

KEYWORDS:

• Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)
• Fennell Phase Inventory
• quality of life
• depression
• hopelessness
• perceived burdensomeness

Acknowledgement

The views expressed in the submitted article are our own, and not an official position of Wittenberg or Ohio Dominican University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cathy L. Pederson

Cathy L. Pederson holds a doctorate in physiology and neurobiology. She is a professor of biology at Wittenberg University and the founder of Standing Up to POTS (standinguptopots.org). Contact her at [email protected].

Kathleen Gorman-Ezell

Kathleen Gorman-Ezell holds a doctorate in social work. She is a licensed social worker and an assistant professor of social work at Ohio Dominican University. Contact her at [email protected].

Jeffrey B. Brookings

Jeffrey B. Brookings is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Wittenberg University, where his primary research areas were psychometrics and multivariate statistics. Contact him at [email protected].