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Dr. Glenn Feltz

History and Development of the PRFS

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The PRFS was developed by psychologists Dr. Kent Eichenauer and Dr. Glenn Feltz who together have combined over 40 years experience consulting with patients and staff of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation programs.

Drs. Feltz and Eichenauer began development of the PRFS in 2001. They conducted a thorough five year validation process involving over 500 patients in six cardiopulmonary rehabilitation programs culminating in the final revision. The individual scales were standardized against well-known, established assessment tools such as the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory-II.

The development and validation of the PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK FACTOR SURVEY is documented in the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention. (Must be a member of American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation to access this article.)

Additional information about psychologists’ roles in cardiac rehab is highlighted in the American Psychological Association’s Monitor. (Must be a member of APA to access this article.)

 PictureDr. Kent Eichenauer

What is the PRFS?

The PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK FACTOR SURVEY© (PRFS) is an assessment tool specifically designed to measure the primary psychosocial risk factors of patients in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation programs.

The PRFS screens for:

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  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Anger/Hostility
  • Social Isolation
  • Emotional Guardedness: Patients sometimes minimize what they will report on screening tools, or simply say what they want others to hear.  This scale can help to determine if this is happening.

Why the PRFS?

  • AACVPR recommends assessing psychosocial factors
  • Ideally suited as a pre- and post- measurement tool for outcomes
  • When programs measure only one risk factor, such as Depression, they can easily miss other critical risk factors such as Anger/Hostility.

Highlights of the PRFS

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  • contains 70 easy to read items
  • patients can respond to the items on a 5-point scale
  • completion time is 10-15 minutes
  • easily hand scored by staff in 5 minutes
  • cut off scores are provided to help determine if the patient should be further evaluated
  • standardized on combined samples of over 500 patients from cardiopulmonary rehab programs based in 6 sites in the US.

Personalized Clinical and Technical Support

The PRFS was developed by psychologists who offer unparalleled professional support.  A simple phone call or email will provide you with personalized assistance in using the PRFS to the best advantage for your patients and your program.
"We have been using the PRFS for several years and appreciate how it quickly screens for the major psychosocial risk factors. It fits well with the flow of our program. It's great to use a test where our staff knows clearly what it's measuring."
--Michael D. Hoehn, Coordinator, Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Mary Rutan Hospital 
Bellefontaine, OH