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Stress in women's daily life before and after a myocardial infarction: a qualitative analysis.

Sjöström-Strand, Annica LU and Fridlund, Bengt LU (2007) In Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 21(1). p.10-17
Abstract
Background: Little is known about women's perceptions of their daily life before and after a myocardial infarction (MI), especially with regard to stress, which is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Aim: To describe and explore women's perceptions of stress before and after an MI. Method: Two interviews with women who suffered an MI, the first at the hospital (n = 20) and the second 4-10 months after the MI (n = 14), were analysed using a phenomenographic approach. Findings: The stress emanated either from within themselves (personal traits) or as an effect of their immediate surroundings. The period before the MI was stressful due to the different roles they had to maintain in their private and professional lives. They lost... (More)
Background: Little is known about women's perceptions of their daily life before and after a myocardial infarction (MI), especially with regard to stress, which is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Aim: To describe and explore women's perceptions of stress before and after an MI. Method: Two interviews with women who suffered an MI, the first at the hospital (n = 20) and the second 4-10 months after the MI (n = 14), were analysed using a phenomenographic approach. Findings: The stress emanated either from within themselves (personal traits) or as an effect of their immediate surroundings. The period before the MI was stressful due to the different roles they had to maintain in their private and professional lives. They lost control over their daily life. After hospital discharge they both wanted and needed support, as they were terrified when they returned home. They did not know how much they could do and neither did their relatives, while little or no support was provided by the healthcare professionals. Conclusions: To prevent CHD in daily life and avoid reinforcing stress, it is important to place greater emphasis on stress as an important risk factor. An understanding of this phenomenon can assist primary healthcare, coronary care unit (CCU) and rehabilitation nurses in supporting these women as well as their partners to adapt their daily lives both before and after an MI. It is essential to formulate and implement individualised treatment plans and to provide support groups for women. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
myocardial infarction, qualitative method, stress, women
in
Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences
volume
21
issue
1
pages
10 - 17
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000245416600003
  • scopus:34047225138
ISSN
1471-6712
DOI
10.1111/j.1471-6712.2007.00433.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Division of Nursing (Closed 2012) (013065000)
id
ae0d177d-bd9a-4aed-b6fc-f0dabc39dfb7 (old id 167696)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17428209&dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:36:46
date last changed
2022-03-22 19:47:43
@article{ae0d177d-bd9a-4aed-b6fc-f0dabc39dfb7,
  abstract     = {{Background: Little is known about women's perceptions of their daily life before and after a myocardial infarction (MI), especially with regard to stress, which is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Aim: To describe and explore women's perceptions of stress before and after an MI. Method: Two interviews with women who suffered an MI, the first at the hospital (n = 20) and the second 4-10 months after the MI (n = 14), were analysed using a phenomenographic approach. Findings: The stress emanated either from within themselves (personal traits) or as an effect of their immediate surroundings. The period before the MI was stressful due to the different roles they had to maintain in their private and professional lives. They lost control over their daily life. After hospital discharge they both wanted and needed support, as they were terrified when they returned home. They did not know how much they could do and neither did their relatives, while little or no support was provided by the healthcare professionals. Conclusions: To prevent CHD in daily life and avoid reinforcing stress, it is important to place greater emphasis on stress as an important risk factor. An understanding of this phenomenon can assist primary healthcare, coronary care unit (CCU) and rehabilitation nurses in supporting these women as well as their partners to adapt their daily lives both before and after an MI. It is essential to formulate and implement individualised treatment plans and to provide support groups for women.}},
  author       = {{Sjöström-Strand, Annica and Fridlund, Bengt}},
  issn         = {{1471-6712}},
  keywords     = {{myocardial infarction; qualitative method; stress; women}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{10--17}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences}},
  title        = {{Stress in women's daily life before and after a myocardial infarction: a qualitative analysis.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6712.2007.00433.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1471-6712.2007.00433.x}},
  volume       = {{21}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}