Evelina Lamsodienė, Gedvilė Juškytė

Abstract

According to statistics, around 8 thousand myocardial infarctions are diagnosed in Lithuania every year. It noticeably deteriorates human’s activity and a person’s life quality, as a result a disability occurs, a blood circulation disorder decreases a person’s working activity, so it becomes more difficult to adapt to the environment. In order to reach the objectives of this research, a phenomenological research method has been used. The semi- structured interview has been used for data collection, this interview covered the following three main parts: independence, functional capacity and attitude towards a person during a period of treatment and at the homes of the individuals who had a myocardial infarction. A questionnaire was drawn up and the respondents were met three times. Each of them had to answer the four following questions:1) What impact has MI had on your independence in your dayto- day activities? 2) How has your physical ability changed at your daily activities? 3) How has your attitude towards yourself changed after MI? 4) What impact will MI have on your working life and leisure time? Unexpected questions motivated respondents to answer as truthfully and in as much depth as possible. When choosing respondents for this research, they had to meet the following requirements: first – the group should consist of individuals, who had experienced MI within the last 48 hours second – the group should consist of people, who had been undergoing treatment in LSMUL I cardiologic section in April, 2015, third – the group should include individuals who were sent home after the hospital treatment, finally – the group should consist of people who are fully conscious of their situation, environment, themselves and time. Six respondents aged from 45 to 69 (average 57, 5 years) participated in this research. They were told about the research including, its purpose and progress. They were also asked to leave their contact numbers so that it was easier to contact them and arrange the meetings. Each interview took around 20 minutes, a recorder was used during the interview, the first two meetings took place in a hospital section that respondents were familiar with. The third meeting was arranged in a place which was convenient for both sides. The first meeting was arranged no more than 48 hours after the respondent had gone to the hospital. The second meeting was arranged on the same day when respondent had been discharged from the hospital (average time is 7 days). The third meeting was after arranged after 7/8 days spent at home. During each interview, all respondents emphasized changes in their independence, physical ability and attitude towards themselves after MI in different periods of recovery. 15 sub- themes were picked out during the initial coding. They got expedient titles. Thereafter, every sub- theme was attributed to the following 3 major themes: a) a change of independence; b) changes in physical ability; c) thoughts, feelings and emotions. All individuals participating in this research admitted that they did not feel any major changes in their day- to- day activities during the first two days after MI. However, they have acknowledged that it is difficult to assess their potential realistically as there is a lack of physical activities in a hospital. Respondents who had experienced MI after still being in a hospital admitted feeling anxiety about the future and health changes for the worse. They also expressed uncertainty about their future performance in life and they also expressed negative thoughts, regarding employment opportunities. Respondents who had experienced MI and participated in this research expressed both positive and negative attitudes towards themselves: the burden of household and etc. Individuals could evaluate a decrease in their physical ability only when they came back home. This factor made many decide it was easier to them to work less or lower the pace of activities.

Keyword(s): myocardial infarction (MI); independence; functional capacity; activity; attitude towards oneself.
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2015.094
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