Illness perceptions and health literacy are strongly associated with health-related quality of life, anxiety and depression in patients with coronary heart disease: results from the EUROASPIRE V cross-sectional survey.

Interventions like cardiac rehabilitation should be targeted at vulnerable groups given the strong associations between more threatening illness perceptions, lower health literacy, lower health related quality of life, and higher levels of anxiety and depression. The delivery and content of these interventions should be accessible for those with low health literacy.