The Subjective Functional Stress Level in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

• Main Authors: Saeid Hamidizadeh, Mazdak Khalili, Mohammad Rahimi, Hossein Ali Mehralyan, Jafar Moghaddsi
• Format: Article
• Language: fas
• Published: Vesnu Publications 2008-01-01
• Series: مجله دانشکده پزشکی اصفهان
• Online Access: http://jims.mui.ac.ir/index.php/jims/article/view/102

BACKGROUND: Mental stress is considered to be a precipitating factor for acute coronary events. Mental stress delays rehabilitation in patients and may increase the complications of coronary events. We aimed to assess the association of subjective or perceived mental stress with the occurrence of acute coronary events. METHODS: This prospective case-control study was carried out in Borojen health centers in 2006-2007. Fifty hospitalized patients with acute myocardial infarction and ST elevation on electrocardiogram were enrolled as cases; unmatched controls were enrolled from amongst patients with coronary artery disease without recent acute coronary events. Equipments for data collection were client’s demographic questionnaire and subjective stress functional classification (SS_FC) questionnaire. FINDINGS: Overall, 78.9% of cases with acute myocardial infarction had high-levels of stress (class III and IV), whereas 29.3% of controls reported high stress levels during the same period (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Considering that patients with myocardial infarction reported a higher stress level during the month preceeding the acute coronary events than controls did, stress might be associated with coronary events. KEY WORDS: Subjective stress, acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease