There is converging evidence that changing beliefs about an illness leads to positive recovery outcomes. However, cardiac misconceptions interventions have been investigated mainly in Angina or Coronary Heart Disease patients, and less in patients following Myocardial Infarction (MI). In these patients, cardiac misconceptions may play a role in the adjustment or lifestyle changes. This article reports a randomized controlled trial of an intervention designed to reduce the strength of misconceptions in patients after a first MI. The primary outcome was the degree of change in misconceptions and the secondary outcomes were: exercise, smoking status, return to work and mood (anxiety and depression). Patients in the intervention condition (n = 60) were compared with a control group (n = 67) receiving usual care. Both groups were evaluated at baseline and 4, 8 and 12 months after hospital discharge. There was a significant time-by-group interaction for the total score of cardiac misconceptions. Patients in the intervention group significantly decreased their total score of cardiac misconceptions at 4 months compared with the control group and this difference was sustained over time. Patients in the intervention group were also more likely to exercise at the follow-up period after MI than the control group. This intervention was effective in reducing the strength of cardiac misconceptions in MI patients and had a positive impact on health behaviour outcomes. These results support the importance of misconceptions in health behaviours and the utility of belief change interventions in promoting health in patients with Myocardial Infarction.

Research into how people perceive risk has highlighted the interaction between the available information and personal variables and their impact on judgement. This study sought to identify demographic and health variables that influenced risk and the influence of individual risk assessment, dispositional optimism and negative affect on judgement. A total of 476 participants were asked to make risks judgements of 24 vignettes depicting hypothetical risk scenarios. The findings showed that while people are able to correctly recognise, in others, relevant risk factors for coronary heart disease, risk perception is likely to imply a personal consideration of the same risk factors in themselves.

cardiac misconceptions among healthy adults: implications for the promotion of health in the communityCrenças erróneas sobre as doenças cardíacas em adultos saudáveis: implicações para a promoção da saúde na comunidade

Research about cardiac misconceptions has focused on identifying the most common erroneous beliefs and understanding their impact on patients' outcomes. However, less is known about the underlying structure of cardiac misconceptions and how they relate to other belief dimensions. The aims of the present study were: (a) to characterize illness perceptions and cardiac misconceptions in a sample of Myocardial Infarction (MI) patients; (b) to analyse the structure of an experimental Portuguese version of the York Cardiac Beliefs Questionnaire (YCBQ); and (c) to examine whether illness perceptions are likely to influence cardiac misconceptions. This cross-sectional study included 127 first-MI patients from both sexes, aged up to 70 years old. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were performed with AMOS. The main results showed that a two-dimension (stress avoidance and exercise avoidance) version of the YCBQ offered the best fit to the data. A significant impact of psychological attributions was observed on cardiac misconceptions, as well as a moderate impact of emotional response explaining 26% of the variance. Although exploratory, this study gives a significant contribution to research in this field, as clarification on the different concepts and the way they relate is needed. Our findings suggest that further investigation into the concepts of cardiac knowledge and cardiac misconceptions may have an important role in understanding health behaviours in the context of heart disease.

ResumoObjetivo: O presente estudo de caráter exploratório procurou caraterizar e comparar as perceções de doença e as crenças erróneas sobre a doença cardíaca em pacientes portugueses e nos seus cônjuges. Método: A amostra foi composta por 46 pacientes com doença cardíaca e 32 cônjuges. Foi utilizada uma metodologia combinada (qualitativa e quantitativa), com recurso a instrumentos de autorrelato e, no caso das perceções de doença dos pacientes, também a desenhos do coração. Resultados: Verificou-se que as perceções de doença do paciente diferem consoante o sexo, a idade e a situação profissional e estão relacionadas com traços de personalidade. Os cônjuges dos pacientes parecem reportar níveis mais elevados de preocupação com a doença. A análise dos desenhos efetuados pelos pacientes sugere ainda que a altura e a área dos mesmos podem estar associadas com dimensões específicas das perceções de doença. Conclusão: Em termos gerais consideramos que o presente estudo contribui de forma modesta mas significativa para descrever o tipo de crenças erróneas sobre as doenças de coração dos pacientes e cônjuges, assim como para analisar de que forma a perceção da doença influencia outras crenças relacionadas com diferentes aspetos da fase de ajustamento e gestão da doença. Palavras-chave: doença cardíaca, crenças erróneas, perceção da doença, pacientes, cônjuges AbstractAim: The aims of the present study were concerned with the characterization of illness perceptions of heart disease and cardiac misconceptions in patients and their partners. We also examined the associations between illness perceptions and cardiac misconceptions with sociodemographic information and mood. Method: The participants were 46 cardiac patients, 32 with a participating partner; all completed an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. A combined methodology (qualitative and quantitative) was used. The variables were assessed by using several self-report instruments and, in the case of patients' illness perceptions, also by collecting drawings of the heart. Results: The results indicated that illness perceptions differed according to sex, age and professional status of the patients and that these perceptions were related to personality traits. The partners reported higher levels of concern towards illness than patients. The analysis of the patients' drawings of the heart suggests that area and height are associated with specific illness perceptions. Conclusion: Overall, the present study provides a modest but significant contribution to describe illness perceptions and cardiac misconceptions of patients and their partners and their association with recovery outcomes.