643 Psychological Resilience Protects Against All-Cause Unplanned Hospital Readmissions Following Acute Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

Depression is a significant risk factor for unplanned rehospitalisations following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Psychological resilience may reduce this risk through better adjustment to illness and adversity. The aim of this study was to explore whether psychological resilience protects against all-cause unplanned rehospitalisations following AMI. A total of 234 consecutive adult post-AMI patients (185 men; mean±SD age =63.84±12.38 years) completed a depression scale (Cardiac Depression Scale; CDS), an anxiety scale (Spielberger’s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), and a psychological resilience scale (Sense of Coherence Scale; SOC) comprising three subscales (Manageability, Comprehensibility and Meaningfulness), during their AMI admission. All-cause unplanned rehospitalisations were sourced from electronic hospital databases (Cerner and TrakCare) from the time of the enrolment admission to census (11th Dec 2019). Time in the study ranged from 54 days to 4.8 years. 41.5% of the sample (n=97) had ≥1 unplanned rehospitalisation following their original AMI admission (range 0-17 readmissions). Hierarchical Linear Regression analyses (adjusted for time in the study, demographic and illness severity, CVD knowledge, depression, anxiety) revealed that higher levels of perceived Meaningfulness in life (β=-.13, p=.03) predicted fewer all-cause unplanned rehospitalisations. Psychological resilience, as indexed by perceived meaningfulness in life, is a significant protective factor against all-cause unplanned rehospitalisations, independent of sociodemographic, clinical and other psychosocial factors. Research is needed to determine whether this cohort may benefit from positive psychology interventions that have shown promise in optimising psychological resilience in other health and illness settings.