Acute myocardial infarction and work disability
The project aims to bridge research traditions within cardiology, psychiatric epidemiology and insurance medicine. This interdisciplinary approach intends to respond to the growing need for a scientific knowledge base necessary to design optimal health care for patients with ischemic heart disease.
The project proposes research on two important dimensions of ischemic heart disease: work disability (measured as sickness absence and disability pension) and comorbidity with common mental disorders, i.e. depressive and anxiety disorders. A specific focus of the project will be on acute myocardial infarction and on the specific disorders covered by common mental disorders.
More specifically, the project will scrutinize
- the course of common mental disorders before and after being granted disability pension related to ischemic heart disease
- the effect of common mental disorders on the prognosis after acute myocardial infarction in terms of long-term work disability, rehospitalisation and mortality.
Due to the individual variation in ethiology, age of onset and prognosis of ischemic heart disease and common mental disorders, the studies will be conceptualised both from a life course perspective and from a perspective on individual differences in health care needs.
The research questions will be studied using two large population-based register studies merged with registers covering detailed longitudinal clinical and socio-demographic information.