PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS PREDICT MEDICAL OUTCOME FOLLOWING A FIRST MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION

Background: The aim of this study was to identify psychosocial variables that, in addition to known medical factors, predict the long-term outcome after a first myocardial infarction. Patients and methods: The study population consisted of 222 men aged 30-60 years who entered an inpatient rehabilitation program a mean of 7 weeks after a first myocardial infarction. Medical data and completed questionnaires for psychosocial variables were obtained from the patients and their family physicians at entry to the rehabilitation center and 1 year later. Further data, including answers to a detailed questionnaire, were collected at the beginning of rehabilitation and after one year; this follow-up was 99% complete. Results: The 1-year mortality was 2.2%, the reinfarction rate 1.8%, hospital readmissions for cardiac reasons occurred in 25%, and 13% of the patients underwent a subsequent revascularization procedure. At baseline and after 1 year, respectively, 84 and 83% of the patients were asymptomatic. A poor medical outcome, defined as death, reinfarction, severe symptoms or poor exercise capacity, was seen in 9% of the patients. The most important physiological predictors for an unfavourable medical outcome, found in bivariate and multivariate analyses, were age, severity of infarction, and major coronary risk factors. In addition, some of the psychosocial variables were significantly related to a poor medical outcome: lack of a stable partnership, high work load, poor general well-being with multiple chronic non-specific health complaints, and a tow external locus of control (failure to identify disease-promoting factors within own surroundings or lifestyle). Conclusions: The medical course of coronary artery disease was predicted not only by medical Variables but also by psychological and social variables. As well as being addressed directly, these factors may help to identify patients who need to be followed more closely, so that medical complications can be reduced by treating early signs of disease progression more aggressively.