What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Cross-Sectional. Population: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) (n=263). Intervention: Psychological and sociodemographic factors. Primary outcome: Distinct post-SCAD psychological profiles.

What does this research mean for the field?

Psychological recovery after spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is heterogeneous and characterized by three distinct profiles—Psychologically Vulnerable, Established Copers, and High-Resource Recoverers—driven by factors such as resilience, financial strain, and social support rather than age alone. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.NOVEL_FINDING. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To identify distinct psychological recovery profiles and examine how protective and vulnerability factors cluster together among survivors of spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD).

September 5, 2026European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing

Psychological recovery after SCAD: Identifying protective and vulnerability factors using cluster analysis

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Key result

Cluster analysis identifies distinct post-SCAD psychological recovery profiles with ~39% of survivors classified as vulnerable.

n=263

Population

263 spontaneous coronary artery dissection survivors recruited from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research…

Design

Cross-sectional

Authors

MGMichael Le GrandeAustralian Centre for Heart Health MRMichelle RogersonThe Royal Melbourne Hospital AJAlun C. JacksonGeneral / Preventive / Lipids

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

May guide supportive care for vulnerable SCAD survivors; leaves open whether profile-targeted interventions improve recovery.

Key Points

To identify distinct psychological recovery profiles and examine how protective and vulnerability factors cluster together among survivors of spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD).
Conducted a cross-sectional survey of 263 SCAD survivors recruited from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute Arteriopathies and SCAD Cohort (VASC).
Assessed anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9), cardiac distress (CDI-SF), quality of life (SF-12), resilience (CD-RISC), social support (ESSI), patient activation (PAM-13), and post-traumatic growth (PTGI).
Applied K-Prototypes cluster analysis to identify subgroups and evaluated between-cluster differences using chi-square tests and ANOVAs.
Identified three distinct psychological recovery profiles: Cluster 1 (Psychologically Vulnerable; 39%), Cluster 2 (Established Copers; 32%), and Cluster 3 (High-Resource Recoverers; 29%).
Psychologically Vulnerable survivors were younger-to-mid-aged and marked by low resilience, low patient activation, financial strain, and limited social support.
Established Copers were older with higher cardiac rehabilitation attendance and low financial strain, whereas High-Resource Recoverers had the highest resilience, patient activation, and post-traumatic growth.

Study Design

Type

Cross-Sectional (n=263)

Structured PICO

Population

263 spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) survivors assessed for psychological recovery profiles.

Outcome

Distinct post-SCAD psychological profiles based on measures of anxiety, depression, cardiac distress, health-related quality of life, resilience, social support, patient activation, and post-traumatic growthpatient reported

Psychological recovery after SCAD is heterogeneous, identifying three distinct profiles that suggest interventions should prioritize resilience building, patient engagement, and strengthening social support.

Cite This Study

Grande et al. (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) (n=263). Psychological and sociodemographic factors was evaluated on Distinct post-SCAD psychological profiles. Cluster analysis of 263 SCAD survivors identified three distinct psychological recovery profiles: Psychologically Vulnerable (39%), Established Copers (32%), and High-Resource Recoverers (29%).

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9bd4436b95aff0620ebc5c https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvag201

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