A five-country comparison of anxiety early after acute myocardial infarction.
BACKGROUND
Anxiety is common after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and has the potential to negatively affect physical and psychosocial recovery. There have been no cross-cultural comparisons of anxiety among AMI patients.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate whether anxiety after AMI differs across five diverse countries and to determine whether an interaction between country, and sociodemographic and clinical variables contributes to variations in reporting anxiety.


RESULTS
A total of 912 individuals with confirmed AMI were enrolled in this prospective, comparative, cross-cultural study. Anxiety was assessed within 72 h of hospital admission using the Brief Symptom Inventory. The mean level of anxiety in the entire sample was 0.62+/-0.76, which is 44% higher than the normal mean level. Anxiety levels were not significantly different among the countries with the exception that patients in England reported lower levels of anxiety than those in the US (P=0.03). However, this difference disappeared after controlling for sociodemographic variables on which the countries differed.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients from each country studied experienced high anxiety after AMI. Even though various cultures were represented in this study, culture itself did not account for variations in anxiety after AMI. It appears that anxiety after AMI is a universal phenomenon.
De Jong
Marla J
MJ
University of Kentucky, College of Nursing /US Air Force, Lexington, KY, USA.
Chung
Misook L
ML
Roser
Lynn P
LP
Jensen
Lynne A
LA
Kelso
Lynn A
LA
Dracup
Kathleen
K
McKinley
Sharon
S
Yamasaki
Keiko
K
Kim
Cho-Ja
CJ
Riegel
Barbara
B
Ball
Carol
C
Doering
Lynn V
LV
An
Kyungeh
K
Barnett
Maree
M
Moser
Debra K
DK
D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology*; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D004638:Emergency Treatment / Q000379:methods; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology