No abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the psychophysiological personality characteristics of male survivors of myocardial infarction (MI) in order to identify the risks of recurrent cardiovascular events. Material and Methods: We observed 60 male patients (mean age of 46.5 [38.7; 54.3]) diagnosed with ischemic heart disease (IHD) during outpatient and inpatient treatment. In the past (from one to three years ago), all of them suffered Q-wave MI (75%-with localization in the posterior wall of the left ventricle, 25%-in the anteroseptal area). The psychological study included the following techniques and methods: the abridged MMMPI, the Spielberger-Khanin test, the TAS in the variant modified at V.M. Bekhterev Research Institute, S. Subbotin's STQ, E. Heim's technique for revealing individual coping strategies, and the projective psycho-geometric test. Results: The discovered characteristics applicable to the psychological portrait of males with a history of MI (elevated levels of neuroticism and anxiety with elements of demonstrative behavior, complications in the expression of feelings and emotions) are a reflection of the psychosomatic radical component of IHD. This finding enables us to recommend including methods of psychological correction of discovered intrapersonal changes in the measures for preventing recurrent cardiovascular events in the studied cohort of patients.