[Return to work and pensioning of state insured myocardial infarction patients (author's transl)]

With reference to an enquiry among a total of 961 patients of a longitudinal myocardial infarction study (replies from 97%) participants in the study and drop-outs were compared with regard to questions on returning to work and pensioning. The results point to the effectiveness of follow-up care within the scope of this longitudinal study which consists essentially of the combination of inpatient curative treatment and regular follow-up outpatient examinations with a six-monthly rhythm. 85% of the participants in the longitudinal study have taken up work again after the infarction compared with only 66% of the drop-outs. At the time of the enquiry in 1976, after an average of 45 months care in the study, 68% of the participants were working, on the other hand only 48% of the drop-outs with an average care of only 4 months were working.