Long-term follow-up of the Ischemic Heart Disease Life Stress Monitoring Program. 1989

N Frasure-Smith, and R Prince
Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

This study examines patient outcomes up to seven years after a one-year, post-myocardial infarction (MI) stress monitoring and management program. A previous randomized controlled trial involving 461 male patients demonstrated that the program lowered stress scores and reduced one-year cardiac deaths by almost 50%, but made no difference in readmission rates or durations. The present study used medical records to assess the durability of these outcomes. Results indicated that the difference in cardiac deaths was primarily due to out-of-hospital deaths (that is, those that were more likely to have been sudden deaths) and persisted for six months beyond the end of the program, after which the mortality curves began to approach one another. In addition, although during the program year MI recurrences occurred at the same rate in the two groups, during the years after the program there were fewer MI recurrences among the treated patients. Over the full follow-up period the group difference in MI recurrences was statistically significant (p = 0.043). Results are considered in terms of methodological limitations of the study, including the timing of randomization, sample selection requirements, and group differences on baseline variables. Findings are also discussed in relation to the outcomes of other programs producing long-term reductions in recurrences or deaths from ischemic heart disease. It is suggested that, regardless of their approach, all such programs may share a common therapeutic mechanism: the provision of emotional support during a period of high vulnerability to stress.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008016 Life Change Events Those occurrences, including social, psychological, and environmental, which require an adjustment or effect a change in an individual's pattern of living. Life Course,Life Crises,Life Crisis,Life Experiences,Course, Life,Crisis, Life,Event, Life Change,Experience, Life,Life Change Event,Life Courses,Life Experience
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D009203 Myocardial Infarction NECROSIS of the MYOCARDIUM caused by an obstruction of the blood supply to the heart (CORONARY CIRCULATION). Cardiovascular Stroke,Heart Attack,Myocardial Infarct,Cardiovascular Strokes,Heart Attacks,Infarct, Myocardial,Infarction, Myocardial,Infarctions, Myocardial,Infarcts, Myocardial,Myocardial Infarctions,Myocardial Infarcts,Stroke, Cardiovascular,Strokes, Cardiovascular
D011792 Quebec A province of eastern Canada. Its capital is Quebec. The region belonged to France from 1627 to 1763 when it was lost to the British. The name is from the Algonquian quilibek meaning the place where waters narrow, referring to the gradually narrowing channel of the St. Lawrence or to the narrows of the river at Cape Diamond. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p993 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p440)
D012008 Recurrence The return of a sign, symptom, or disease after a remission. Recrudescence,Relapse,Recrudescences,Recurrences,Relapses
D012017 Referral and Consultation The practice of sending a patient to another program or practitioner for services or advice which the referring source is not prepared to provide. Consultation,Gatekeepers, Health Service,Hospital Referral,Second Opinion,Consultation and Referral,Health Service Gatekeepers,Hospital Referrals,Referral,Referral, Hospital,Referrals, Hospital,Consultations,Gatekeeper, Health Service,Health Service Gatekeeper,Opinion, Second,Opinions, Second,Referrals,Second Opinions
D003327 Coronary Disease An imbalance between myocardial functional requirements and the capacity of the CORONARY VESSELS to supply sufficient blood flow. It is a form of MYOCARDIAL ISCHEMIA (insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle) caused by a decreased capacity of the coronary vessels. Coronary Heart Disease,Coronary Diseases,Coronary Heart Diseases,Disease, Coronary,Disease, Coronary Heart,Diseases, Coronary,Diseases, Coronary Heart,Heart Disease, Coronary,Heart Diseases, Coronary
D005500 Follow-Up Studies Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease. Followup Studies,Follow Up Studies,Follow-Up Study,Followup Study,Studies, Follow-Up,Studies, Followup,Study, Follow-Up,Study, Followup
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man

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