Relationships among Marital Adjustment, Chest Pain, and Anxiety in Myocardial Infarction Patients

Factors related to pain in postmyocardial infarction patients are described. Based on the rationale that chest pain following a myocardial infarction is related to emotional factors, it was hypothesized that anxiety and marital adjustment are related to the amount of chest pain following a myocardial infarction. Thirty married white men ages 45 to 72 were surveyed. Marital adjustment was measured by Spanier's Dyadic Adjustment Scale and trait anxiety by Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The frequency of chest pain medications was obtained from the medical records. Two hypotheses were analyzed with standard correlation statistics. Marital adjustment related negatively to chest pain; men scoring higher on marital adjustment required less chest pain medication. Men scoring higher on trait anxiety required more chest pain medication, but this relationship was not statistically significant. Men scoring high in trait anxiety scored lower in marital adjustment than men low in trait anxiety.