Myocardial infarction, spouses’ reactions and their need of support

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of myocardial infarction (MI) on survivor's spouses in terms of fears and symptoms during the patient's recovery period. In addition the researchers sought to evaluate the influence of the support by the health care professionals on spouses' adjustment. A total of 57 Finnish spouses participated in the study. Of the spouses 47 were female and 10 were male. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire distributed to the spouses at a rehabilitation session at 2 weeks-4 months after the MI. Topics covered included fears, emotional and physical symptoms and the spouses' experience of the sufficiency of the support that they had received from health care professionals during the patient's recovery. Data were analysed using quantitative methods including descriptive statistics and multivariate methods. Fears and symptoms were classified using factor analyses. For fears two factors emerged which were named: disease-related fears and personal fears. In respect of symptoms experienced by the spouse three factors emerged: one which describes emotional distress, one which describes dysfunction and one describing spouses' own vulnerability. The significantly most intensively experienced fears by the spouses were the disease-related fears followed by the personal fears. The most frequently reported symptom was dysfunction followed by emotional distress and vulnerability. In regression analysis emotional distress was predicted by personal fears, support from the health care professionals, the shock reaction, spouse's own health and time after MI. Dysfunction was predicted by spouse's own health and personal fears whereas vulnerability was predicted by spouse's own health and support from the health care professionals. Study findings show that in the planning of the care of patients with MI it is important to attend to the reactions and needs of spouses. Their resources are required for optimal rehabilitation of the patient.

Patients' and significant others' health-related quality of life one month after coronary artery bypass grafting predicts later health-related quality of life

“…Patients also had problems with their sex life. Similar symptoms have been reported by the spouses of patients with heart disease 13,30 and patients themselves. 7,29 The most important sources of support for patients and significant others at both points of measurement were family members and friends, which is in line with earlier research findings.…”

“…The instrument is based on Kahn's 38 theory of social support and earlier research studies. 13,28,29,39,40 In Kahn's 38 theory, social support is understood as interpersonal interaction that involves 1 or more of the following aspects: affect, which refers to appreciation, admiration, respect, or love; affirmation, which includes reinforcement, feedback, and influencing the individual's way of making decisions; and aid, such as objects or money and spending time to help someone. The scale consisted of 6 questions, 2 each to measure affect, aid, and affirmation.…”

“…11 Spouses of patients with heart disease are less satisfied than the patient with family functioning, and they experience more stress than patients. 12 Kettunen et al 13 showed that most spouses of patients with myocardial infarction experienced severe emotional stress during the recovery period. They had various types of stress symptoms and fears about patients' leisure activities and the possible recurrence of infarction.…”

“…14,24,25 Earlier research has examined the HRQoL of patients on follow-up studies 5,6,26,27 and the spouses' experiences, needs, and quality of life. 13,28,29,30,31 To the best of knowledge, however, no previous studies exist that simultaneously study and compare patients' and significant others' HRQoL. The following research questions were set:…”

Opinions of Individuals Who have had Myocardial Infarction About Sex

“…Research suggests that patients who have had MI have hesitations about resuming sexual activity due to the fear of having another heart attack during sexual intercourse [3,5,8,9,14,32,33] and that those patients who have been not provided with any knowledge or counseling about the matter suffer from more severe stress [32]. The relationship between sexual activity and MI is as low as 0.9% [8].…”