Coping with the Gulf war: subculture differences among ischemic heart disease patients in Israel

The purpose of this study was to assess short term effects of the Gulf war on ischemic heart disease patients of different ethnic origin. Three dimensions of patients' reactions to the war situation were studied: psychological, physical and behavioral. The study first focused on changes in patients' responses on these dimensions over three stages of the war, differentiated according to degree of threat. Second, differences stemming from ethnic origin were examined among patients who live in the same geographical region, use the same health services and were exposed to the same threatening life event. One hundred ischemic heart disease patients were interviewed while waiting in outpatient hospital clinics for a regular examination at the end of the war. The results of intrapersonal comparisons showed that the intensity of responses, as expected, increased significantly on the three dimensions from the week before the war started to the first week of the war, which was the most stressful period for Israelis. During the last week of the war, however, when stress was significantly reduced, the expected change was found primarily with regard to psychologic responses. That is, worries were significantly reduced, but no significant reduction in frequency of anginal pain and in drug consumption followed, indicating differences in the adjustment process on the psychologic and physical levels. Subcultural differences were found in the studied responses: Patients of Asian or North African countries of origin reported having more frequent anginal pains, and consuming more drugs than patients from Western countries.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)