PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK-FACTORS FOR CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE IN WOMEN - THE ROLE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT

Lack of social support is becoming increasingly important as a psychos ocial risk factor in the study of coronary heart disease (CHD). There may also be an association between vital exhaustion and lack of social support. Because most research has focused on men, we decided to expl ore the associations between structural and functional social support and first myocardial infarction (MI) in women. Subjects were 79 women hospitalized with a first MI (mean age 59.3; SD = 9.3) and 90 women ho spitalized with an acute surgical event (mean age 57.4; SD = 9.1). MI cases reported more vital exhaustion than did controls (p <.040), and exhausted women reported less structural (p <.001) and functional supp ort (p <.000). After controlling for age, hypertension, diabetes, meno pausal status, smoking, nonanginal pain, and vital exhaustion, multipl e logistic regression analysis showed that poor structural support was associated with an increased risk for MI. These results suggest that social support is associated with vital exhaustion, which is a well-kn own risk factor for CHD. Furthermore, it is suggested that women with only a few confidants are more at risk for MI even after adjustment fo r well-known risk factors for CHD.