Social network and social support predict improvement of physical working capacity in rehabilitation of patients with first myocardial infarction

• Published in: Scandinavian journal of public health 1991-12, Vol.19 (4), p.225-234
• Main Authors: Östergren, Per-Olof, Freitag, Michael, Hanson, Bertil S, Hedin, Eva, Isacsson, Sven-Olof, Odeberg, Håkan, Svensson, Sven-Eric
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Cardiology. Vascular system; Coronary heart disease; Exercise Therapy; Female; Heart; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Myocardial Infarction - epidemiology; Myocardial Infarction - psychology; Myocardial Infarction - rehabilitation; Physical Exertion; Prognosis; Risk Factors; Social Support; Sociology; Sociology of health and medicine; Sweden - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0300-8037; 1403-4948; 1651-1905
• DOI: 10.1177/140349489101900403

A cohort of 50 patients under 70 years of age who had suffered their first myocardial infarction (MI) entered an exercise-based rehabilitation programme. An extensive personal interview concerning psychosocial factors, including social network and social support, as well as an assessment of an array of clinical and laboratory variables was made before the patients were discharged from the hospital. A follow-up 6 months later of the 40 patients that completed the programme showed that material social support and social anchorage at baseline predicted improvement in physical working capacity, independently from age, gender and important clinical variables. The authors conclude that psychosocial factors could be predictors of equal importance as many of the standard risk factors and clinical assessments in the rehabilitation of a majority of post-MI patients. It is suggested that training programmes should provide opportunities for involvement of the patients' social network, in order to benefit from optimal social support during the rehabilitation process.