Most frequent emotional states in convalescent patients of myocardial infarction and its relationship to cardiovascular health state

Abstract

Introduction: Patients with myocardial infarction often express emotional states including fear of dying when suffering a cardiovascular event. Objective: To determine the relationship between most frequent emotional states post-myocardial infarction and the compensation degree of somatic health status in patients during convalescence. Method: A prospective study was carried out on 31 patients, selected by (non-probabilistic) purposive sampling, who attended follow-up cardiology consultation at “Hospital Celestino Hernández Robau” from Santa Clara, from September 2014 to March 2015. Document review techniques, interviews, Rotter, IDARE and IDERE tests were applied. Results: Hypertension was the main cardiovascular risk factor (90.3%). There was a male predominance (64.5%) and a partially unbalanced state of somatic health (51.6%), mostly in men (60.0%). Only 25.8% of compensated patients. Generally the average indicator of anxiety and depression predominated; but we found high levels of these emotional states in decompensated and partially unbalanced patients, especially as a state. Conclusions: There was a predominance of partially offset somatic state of health. High levels of anxiety and depression states were identified and it was found the existence of an important relation between anxiety-depression emotional states, and the somatic state of health relating to the cardiovascular system in patients convalescent from myocardial infarction.