The Emotional, Environmental, Physical and Chemical Triggers of Acute Myocardial Infarction: An Analytical Demographic Study

Abstract

Objective: Acute triggers are external stimuli that produce acute pathophysiologic changes directly leading to the onset of myocardial infarction (MI). Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the main causes of mortality. Recent studies have confirmed the impact of acute triggers on the occurrence of AMI, but have not evaluated their differences in terms of demographic characteristics. This study was conducted to investigate the impact of acute triggers on AMI in various demographic groups. Methods: This is an analytical cross-sectional study on 269 patients affected by AMI in two hospitals in 2015 and 2016 in Iran. To attain the goals of the study, acute triggers were divided into four groups of emotional, environmental, physical, and chemical. A researcher-developed questionnaire and interview were used to collect data. The risk and control periods were also evaluated for each trigger. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as statistical logistic regression and McNemar’s test using SPSS 21. The P-value was set at 0.05. Results: The results showed that sudden exposure to hot/cold weather in men (P=0.03, OR=3.4), underlying diseases (P=0.03, OR=1.8), heavy activities (P=0.03, OR=1.6) and consuming tea/coffee in men (P=0.01, OR=1.8) increased the chance of AMI. It was also discovered that triggers such as pulmonary infections, overeating and/or eating high-fat foods that are not dependent on demographic variables promoted the chance of AMI (P<0.05). Conclusion: All people - regardless of age, sex, and the presence/lack of underlying illness - are at risk of developing MI in the face of respiratory infections, overeating, and intake of high-fat foods. Also, sudden exposure to hot and / or cold weather, heavy activity and high consumption of coffee and/or tea, can increase the risk of MI in men.