Wives' responses to counselling early after myocardial infarction

Self-ratings of anxiety and depression were studied over six months in 60 wives of first time myocardial infarction patients. Couples were randomly assigned to either a treatment group, where they received a simple programme of education and psychological support in addition to routine care, or to a control group, where they received routine care only. All wives completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale and a battery of visual analogue scales measuring anxiety on a range of topics related to recovery from a heart attack. Wives in the treatment group reported statistically significantly less anxiety than controls. This effect was sustained for six months after the counselling. It is concluded that a simple programme of in hospital counselling is efficacious and should be routinely offered to the wives of coronary patients.