Sixty-eight patients with diagnosed myocardial infarctions were followed up for one year postinfarct onset to determine psychosocial adjustment A previous pilot had differentiated between two groups of patients—depressives and deniers—who had poor vs good rehabilitation results, respectively Results from this study substantiated previous findings in that 70% of those who were depressed postinfarct remained so throughout follow-up These patients failed to remain at work and/or to function sexually and had a higher hospital readmission rate The denial group, although still functioning with minimal psychosocial distress, was not distinguished from the remainder of the study population who generally also functioned well Women postinfarct seemed to have the most difficult time, accounting for 80% of the deaths and 50% of the depressed group Their noticeable type A behavior may account for this finding ( Arch Intern Med 137:1680-1685, 1977)

https://jamanetwork.com/HttpHandlers/ArticlePdfHandler.ashx?journal=INTEMED&articleId=587383&pdfFileName=archinte_137_12_009.pdf

Life Adjustment Postmyocardial Infarction: Determining Predictive Variables

A trial of brief group therapy as part of a rehabilitation program for postmyocardial infarction (MI) patients was carried out. Forty-four patients surviving their first MI were randomly allocated to either group therapy or control group status and were followed over 4 years. An additional group of 17 patients were referred for post-MI group therapy sessions after the termination of the controlled experiment and were followed for 3 years. Patients who received group therapy had significantly less follow-up coronary morbidity and mortality, and returned to work at significant higher percentages than control patients. Although neither group therapy nor control group patients meaningfully altered conventional coronary risk factors, group therapy patients (in the controlled trial) successfully altered selected coronary-prone behaviors. Educational information regarding the physiological and psychological aspects of coronary heart disease, presented in the group therapy sessions, was forgotten over follow-up. It is concluded that the supportive aspects of the group therapy experience played the most important role in determining the rehabilitation advantages seen for treatment patients.

Brief group therapy in myocardial infarction rehabilitation: three- to four-year follow-up of a controlled trial

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/22988/0000556.pdf?sequence=1

Psycho-social aspects of recovery from coronary heart disease: A review

Consultation-liaison psychiatry: past failures and new opportunities.

Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry

A controlled experiment of the utility of group therapy as an adjunct to the medical outpatient management of patients following myocardial infarction has been in progress for nearly a year. The lo...

Group Therapy in the Outpatient Management of Post-Myocardial Infarction Patients

: Thirty-one U.S. Navy First Class Divers were studied over seven time periods encompasing varying levels of stress. All men were enrolled in a 14-week saturation diving training course. A 40-item mood questionnaire was administered and blood samples taken at each time period. Plasma levels for cholesterol and uric acid were determined. A diving Experience Questionnaire was administered at the beginning of the course. Serum cholesterol was found to rise to peak values during a classroom examination, decline during a pier dive, then rise and remain elevated throughout a saturation dive and ensuing decompression. Uric acid levels began high, showing a significant decline during decompression. Relationships between the two biochemical measures and the psychological parameters studied are presented. (Author)

Raymond J. Suchor

Papers

Group Therapy in the Outpatient Management of Post-Myocardial Infarction Patients

Biochemical Variability During Saturation Diving Training.