PSYCHOSOCIAL PREDICTORS OF MORTALITY IN 83 WOMEN WITH PREMATURE ACUTEMYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION

This was an exploratory investigation of psychosocial risk factors for mortality in women with premature acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Subjects were 83 female participants in the Recurrent Coronary Prevent ion Project, who were between the ages of 30 and 63 in 1978, nonsmokin g, nondiabetic, and at least 6 months beyond their index AMI. Follow-u p ranged from 8 to 10 years, with an average of 8.5 years. Six deaths occurred in the 83 women over the follow-up. Univariate predictors of these deaths were arrhythmias on ECG (RR = 7.83, p = .003), being divo rced (RR = 6.9, p = .003), being employed without a college degree (RR = 6.8, p = .03), and the inverse of Type A behavior, time urgency, an d emotional arousability (p = .03; .005; .006, respectively). Multivar iate stepwise logistic regression analysis produced a solution that in cluded as independent predictors: arrhythmias on ECG (RR = 4.01, p = . 004), being divorced (RR = 3.43, p = .01), and the inverse of time urg ency (RR = 0.35, p = .02). In the multivariate model, ''divorced'' was interchangeable with ''employed without a college degree'' and ''time urgency'' was interchangeable with ''emotional arousability.'' This s mall sample precludes firm conclusions, but provides a basis for hypot hesis development.