engleski

Impact of expected and unexpected cardiac events on patient's coping strategies

Stressful and demanding life situations, such as those encountered during hospitalization because of coronary disease or surgery, are associated with a variety of psychic reactions and coping mechanisms, that both affect psychological and physical health status. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of distress, anxiety, depression and adaptive coping strategies in cardiac patients and consequently establish whether the type of the stressor - an unexpected, sudden cardiac event (heart atttack) or the expected intervention (open heart surgery) influenced and/or distinguish coping styles, psychic status and recovery of cardiac patients. Two groups of cardiac patients, first examined in coronary unit after myocardial infarction (N1=75), and second group examined in cardiosurgery unit after having open heart surgery ( N2=75), were given psychometric instruments to measure their stress perception (Stress Intensity Scale), anxiety (State and Trait Anxiety Inventory), depression (Beck Depression Inventory) and coping styles (COPE) during the first week of their recovery ; SPSS package of statistical analysis was applied ; Results Preliminary results show that older age (65 years and more) was significantly associated with poorer coping skills and higher scores on stress, depression and anxiety scales. Also, the difference in coping skills and psychic status between two groups based on type of the stressful event was not significantly supported. Older age could be the predictor for poorer coping skills in cardiac patients. Findings suggest that characteristics of the patients affected the recovery of the patient more than characteristics of the stressful event. Addressing such issues contributes to better understanding and designing treatment strategies contributing to recovery of cardiac patients.

liaison psychiatry; stress; coping; patient; cardiac

AEP = Association of European Psychiatrics ; 10.1016/S0924-9338(05)80145-2