Psychiatric Morbidity after Myocardial Infarction

Using a standardized interview, psychiatric morbidity was diagnosedin 35 out of 100 consecutive male patients one week after admissionto hospital following a first acute myocardial infarction. Sixteenof these patients had been psychiatrically ill before the infarctionand their psychiatric symptoms and social difficulties persistedthroughout the 12 month period of observation. In contrast,patients whose psychiatric morbidity had been precipitated bythe infarction tended to have transient symptoms and fewer problemsof social adjustment. Measures of psychiatric morbidity oneweek after the attack did not predict subsequent mortality ordifficulty in returning to work. Only a history of heavy smokingwas significantly associated with mortality during the ensuing12 months. Patients who regarded their illness as a loss ora threat had greater psychiatric morbidity than those who regardedit as an insignificant event.