Eighty-nine male patients under the age of 60 were studied after admission for their first myocardial infarction (Ml) to the intensive coronary care unit of a medical center in Israel. The subjects were interviewed during hospitalization and after 6 months as to their subjective evaluation of the event. The attending physicians were also interviewed on the same occasions. Patients who attributed the Ml and its possible outcomes at the end of hospitalization to external, uncontrollable causes returned to work and to regular physical and sexual functioning at a significantly lower rate than did patients who cited more internal and controllable causes. Physicians tended to attribute their patients' Ml and rehabilitation solely to physical risk factors (smoking, obesity, hypertension, heredity, etc.), which were poor predictors of the outcome after 6 months. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Dan Bar‐On (1987) studied this question.