Emotional Distress in Younger (<55 Years) and Older (≥55) Patients After a First-Time Myocardial Infarction and Its Prospective Associations With Working Status and Secondary Preventive Goals Among the Younger Cohort: Insights From the Swedish SWEDEHEART Registry Study.
Niclas Almén, Philip Leissner, Kristina Hambraeus and 5 others
PMID 39727319WHAT IT FOUND
Younger patients after a first MI reported emotional distress more often than older patients.
Among younger patients, early emotional distress was linked to less work and poorer achievement of smoking and physical activity goals later, but not cholesterol or blood pressure goals.
Key findings
01At follow-up 1, 48% of younger patients and 35% of older patients reported emotional distress; at follow-up 2, 41% and 31% respectively.
02Among younger patients, emotional distress at follow-up 1 was associated with lower odds of working at follow-up 2 (adjusted odds ratio 0.60) and lower odds of achieving all four secondary preventive goals (adjusted odds ratio 0.81).
03Among younger patients, emotional distress at follow-up 1 was associated with lower odds of achieving smoking (adjusted odds ratio 0.76) and physical activity (adjusted odds ratio 0.83) goals at follow-up 2, but not LDL or systolic blood pressure goals.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was an observational registry study, so it cannot prove that emotional distress caused poorer work or prevention outcomes. It included only patients attending cardiac rehabilitation, so it may not apply to patients who did not attend. Emotional distress was measured with an item, and many outcomes were self-reported. Follow-up data had missing values. Data collection ended several years ago.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that emotional distress caused poor work or prevention outcomes, or that treating distress will improve them. This was an observational registry study, so it shows associations only.