Self-regulation and quality of life after a heart attack : a cross-cultural study

Objective. Coronary heart disease has been on the rise in poorer countries and decreasing in developed countries over the last twenty years. However, the cardiac-related health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in poorer countries has not been studied. This study aimed to compare HRQOL following heart attack in a developing country in the East with that of a developed country in the West. Using the self-regulation of health and illness behaviour, the relationships between illness beliefs, coping cognitions and HRQOL are studied. Design. This study was a cross-sectional correlational survey and data were collected shortly before myocardial infarction patients were discharged from hospital. Methods. A sample of 243 individuals from the UK and Indonesia were recruited. Illness beliefs were assessed with the B-IPQ, along with coping cognitions (Brief-COPE) and health-related quality of life (MacNew questionnaire). Results. Illness beliefs and coping cognitions predicted HRQOL in the combined sample. Some aspects of socio-demographic and clinical variables were concurrently associated with HRQOL. Conclusion. The results demonstrate that people in the East have low illness beliefs and these are associated with worse HRQOL compared with those in the West. The findings suggest that there is an urgent need for smoking cessation campaigns in the East, while the West could benefit more from tailored-cardiac rehabilitation programme.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:542465
Date January 2010
CreatorsNayoan, Johana
PublisherBucks New University
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttp://bucks.collections.crest.ac.uk/10113/

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