The relationship between illness perceptions and cardiac misconceptions after Myocardial Infarction

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Health Psychology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Cardiac misconceptions are common and impact patient outcomes.
• Limited understanding exists regarding the structure of cardiac misconceptions and their relationship to other belief systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize illness perceptions and cardiac misconceptions in Myocardial Infarction (MI) patients.
• To analyze the structure of a Portuguese version of the York Cardiac Beliefs Questionnaire (YCBQ).
• To examine the influence of illness perceptions on cardiac misconceptions.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of 127 first-MI patients (up to 70 years old).
• Utilized Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS software.
• Administered an experimental Portuguese version of the York Cardiac Beliefs Questionnaire (YCBQ).

Main Results:

• A two-dimensional YCBQ model (stress avoidance and exercise avoidance) demonstrated the best data fit.
• Psychological attributions significantly impacted cardiac misconceptions.
• Emotional response moderately influenced cardiac misconceptions, explaining 26% of the variance.

Conclusions:

• Illness perceptions, particularly psychological attributions and emotional responses, significantly shape cardiac misconceptions in MI patients.
• The findings support a two-dimensional structure for cardiac misconceptions related to stress and exercise avoidance.
• Further research into cardiac knowledge and misconceptions is crucial for understanding health behaviors in heart disease.