Comparison of coping responses to symptoms between first-time sufferers and those with a previous history of acute myocardial infarction.
OBJECTIVE
Little is known about how experience with a previous acute myocardial infarction (AMI) impacts individuals' reactions to symptoms of a recurrent episode. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare the use of coping strategies during an acute cardiac event in patients experiencing a first AMI with those experiencing a recurrent AMI.


METHODS
Secondary data analyses were performed to examine differences in the use of coping strategies between individuals with and without a history of AMI. Mann-Whitney U test was performed to compare those with (n = 26) and without (n = 109) a previous AMI with respect to 15 coping strategies, each of which was measured on a 5-point Likert scale.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with a history of AMI were more likely to use prescribed medications to deal with their symptoms than were patients who did not have a previous AMI (M = 1.5 and 0.20; median = 2.0 and 0.0, respectively; P < .001). However, patients who had no previous AMI were more likely to respond by taking nonprescription medications (M = 0.90 and 0.60; median = 1.0 and 0.0, respectively; P = .04). The results suggest that patients with and without a history of AMI tend to respond to their symptoms with similar coping strategies. When differences occurred, patients with and without a history of AMI differed only with respect to the type of self-medication choices they made. Implications pertaining to these findings are discussed.
Fox-Wasylyshyn
Susan M
SM
Faculty of Nursing, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. sfox@uwindsor.ca
El-Masri
Maher M
MM
Krohn
Heather K
HK
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D012008:Recurrence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D004366:Nonprescription Drugs