Perceived control moderates the relationship between anxiety and in-hospital complications after ST segment elevation myocardial infarction

• Published in: Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare 2018-01, Vol.11, p.359-365
• Main Author: AbuRuz, Mohannad Eid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: acute myocardial infarction; Anxiety; Cardiovascular disease; complications; Depression (Mood disorder); Developing countries; Health aspects; Heart attacks; Heart failure; Hospitals; Medical prognosis; Medical research; Mental depression; Mortality; Original Research; Patients; perceived control; Private hospitals; Private schools; Quality of life; Sociodemographics; Validity
• ISSN: 1178-2390; 1178-2390
• DOI: 10.2147/JMDH.S170326

Anxiety is a common psychological response after acute myocardial infarction and might be associated with higher levels of in-hospital complications. Perceived control might moderate this relationship, but the effect of this method has not been checked in developing countries. Therefore, the objectives of this study were as follows: 1) to check if anxiety was an independent predictor of in-hospital complications after acute myocardial infarction; and 2) to check if perceived control moderates the relationship between anxiety and in-hospital complications after acute myocardial infarction. This was a prospective observational study among 500 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of ST segment elevation myocardial infarction recruited from three private hospitals in Amman, Jordan. Anxiety was measured by the Anxiety subscale of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and perceived control was measured by the Arabic version of the Control Attitude Scale-Revised. One hundred and forty patients (28%) developed at least one complication during hospitalization. Two hundred and fifty-five patients had low anxiety scores (≤7), and 245 patients had high anxiety scores (≥8). Patients with high levels of perceived control had lower levels of anxiety (mean [SD]; 5.3 [3.6] vs 14.1 [6.3],