The Mortality Rate of Myocardial Infraction Patients With and Without Opium Dependen.
BACKGROUND
Myocardial infarction (MI) is a heart condition caused by the suspension of blood circulation in a part of the myocardium. There are different risk factors contributing to a heart attack. Some believe that endorphins and endogenous opioids play an important role in causing MIs.


OBJECTIVE
This study intended to determine the relationship between opium dependency and mortality rate among patients with MI.


METHODS
This retrospective study investigated patients who had MI for the first time and were hospitalized in the coronary care unit (CCU) of Khatamolanbia hospital in Zahedan, Iran, from 2007 to 2010. These patients were either opium dependent or not. Four hundred patients were selected. The patients' possibilities of death and re-hospitalization after the first MI were confirmed over the phone. Data was analyzed through t-test and chi-squared test.


RESULTS
Of all the patients, 19.5% were opium-dependent. The mortality rate in the non-opium-dependent group was 5.9%, while in the dependent group this rate was 11.5% (P = 0.072). The number of re-hospitalizations due to heart problems was higher in the opium-dependent patients (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
There was no meaningful relationship between the mortality rate of patients with MI who were either opium-dependent or non-opium-dependent. The number of re-hospitalizations due to heart problems was meaningfully higher in the opium-dependent patients; hence, educating people and training them on the destructive effects of opium, specifically in patients with heart conditions is highly recommended.
Department of Cardiology, Ali Ibn Abi Talib Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, IR Iran.
Hani
H
Harati
Department of Psychiatry, Ali Ibn Abi Talib Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, IR Iran.
Alireza
A
Shamsi
Department of Psychiatry, Research Center for Children and Adolescents Health (RCCAH), Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, IR Iran.
Mahboubeh
M
Firouzkouhi Moghadam
Department of Psychiatry, Ali Ibn Abi Talib Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, IR Iran.
Fatemeh Sadat
FS
Seyed Zadeh
Wilderman Medicine Professional Corporation, Thornhill, Canada.
Arash
A
Ghazi
Mortality; Myocardial Infarction; Opium