The Post-traumatic Growth Experience Of Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction:A Longitudinal Qualitative Research

[Objective]The purpose of this study is to explore the post-traumatic growth experience and change process of patients with acute myocardial infarction within 6 months after diagnosis,so as to provide reference for clinical medical staff to carry out phased intervention measures.[Methods]A longitudinal qualitative research was adopted.Ten patients with acute myocardial infarction from the inpatient ward of**hospital in Taizhou City,Zhejiang Province were recruited through purposive sampling.Semi-structured interviews about the post-traumatic growth experience were conducted on three occasions:1 day before discharge,3 and 6 months after discharge.Data analysis at each time point follows the conventional content analysis.Then explore the growth characteristics of each stage and draw the corresponding theme.After the analysis of the three time points is completed,the data at each time point will be compared vertically to reveal the corresponding development trend.[Results]After analysis,this study extracted the post-traumatic growth experience of patients with acute myocardial infarction within 6 months after diagnosis as "feeling brought by disease","awakening and regret","adapting to life after disease" and "coexisting with disease".In general,with the passage of time,the negative emotions brought by the disease gradually decreased,while the patient’s self-strength continued to increase.After the disease entered the stable stage,the guilt and reflective behavior of patients also gradually weakened,and they used to change bad habits and life attitudes to adapt to the life after the disease.With the accumulation of post-disease experience,most patients learned to live in peace with the disease,re-employment and return to normal life.The post-traumatic growth performance of patients with acute myocardial infarction can be summarized into four themes:"personal strength enhancement","appreciation of life","improvement of relationship with others" and"new possibilities".Each growth theme shows different development trends at different stages of the disease."Personal strength enhancement" grows rapidly within 6 months after the patient is discharged from the hospital,"new possibilities" develops relatively slowly,"relationship improvement with others" develops steadily at various stages after the disease,while "appreciation of life" gradually decreases with time.[Conclusion]This study revealed the post-traumatic growth process and change trend of patients with acute myocardial infarction within 6 months after diagnosis.Medical staff can take targeted psychological intervention measures according to the post-traumatic growth characteristics of patients in different periods to improve the post-traumatic growth status of patients with acute myocardial infarction and improve their quality of life.