Influence of psychosocial factors on emotional status, rehabilitation and quality of life of patients after myocardial infarction

Objective: To examine the impact of dispositional optimism/pessimism, social support and coping strategies on emotional distress (symptoms of depression and anxiety) of patients with myocardial infarction (MI) during hospitalization and one year after the discharge. To identify predictors of recovery and factors affecting quality of life of these patients. Methods: The sample consisted of 102 patients (25 women, 77 men) with diagnosis of acute MI, 2 - 4 days after MI. The age of men patients was lower than 65 and of women lower than 75. During the follow-up, one year after the discharge, we interviewed 63 patients (45 men, 18 women). The group used for comparison consisted of 1% random sample of Czech population from Benešov district, matched with regard to age and sex, selected during epidemiological survey PostMONIKA. Results: Patients with acute MI were significantly more depressed than the subjects from comparison group (ll% vs. 3% p