Excess fatigue as a precursor of myocardial infarction

Abstract

To test the hypothesis that feelings of exhausion are predictive of future coronary heart disease, a prospective study was done among 3877 males, aged 39–65. Feelings of exhaustion were assessed by the Maastricht Questionnaire. Among those who were free of coronary heart disease at screening, 59 subjects experienced a fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction during the 4.2 year follow-up period. A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that feeling of exhausion were predictive of future myocardial infarction when controlling simultaneously for blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol, age and the use of antihypertensive drugs.