Trigger Stressor among Patients Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)

Chronic stress can trigger various diseases, one of those is a heart attack that can cause death. Conversely, patients who are diagnosed with coronary heart disease and had experienced a heart attack or arrhythmia will also experience stress due to the illness.

This study aims to determine the trigger stressor of Coronary Heart Disease. The research method is descriptive, with a cross-sectional research design. The population of this study was all patients with Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) who carried out the examination at the Cardiac Polyclinic, Dr. Soetomo Hospital, Surabaya. The study sample was 118 CHD patients.

The results showed that the majority of CHD patients had more than one year of illness, had experienced chest pain, and had hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or hypercholesterolemia. The main stressor in CHD patients was stress due to the last attack, but the fear of death and cautiousness to the subsequent attack is low. This condition was worsened by the low recognition of the basic signs and actions of the cardiac emergency.

The doctor or nurse must pay attention to the psychological response of CHD patients by providing information or health education about the signs of the cardiac emergency and basic treatment when an attack occurs. Good information about signs and methods of handling cardiac emergencies will make patients feel calmer so that they can avoid worse and more sustained stress.