Evaluation of psychosocial factors in a group of coronary and non-coronary patients

This paper reports on a descriptive, comparative, and cross-sectional investigation which aims to verify the existence of statistically significant differences in the behavior of the psychosocial variables including stress, social support, anger construct, anxiety and depression in a group of coronary and non-coronary patients. It was carried out with 35 subjects with a coronary condition and 37 subjects without this condition, of both sexes, between 40 and 60 years of age. The following tests were used to collect the information: Life Events Questionnaire (CSU; Cuestionario de Sucesos Vitales), Daily Stress Inventory (CED44; Cuestionario de Estrés Diario), Short Interpersonal Reactions Inventory (SIRI), Revised Coping Strategies Scale (EEC-R; Escala de estrategias de coping-revisada), Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSC), State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), State-trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). There were no significant differences in the psychosocial variables between the groups. This could be explained by the fact that the coronary patients participate in a rehabilitation program, which generates in them a consciousness about their condition and its implications in their family, sex, social and work life.