The relationship between coping strategies with stress and fasting blood sugar in patients with coronary heart disease

The use of coping strategies with stress in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients، can lead to significant changes in fasting blood sugar (FBS) level، but researchers have not empirically explored it. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between coping strategies with stress and FBS level in CHD patients. This descriptive and correlative study was conducted in 2011. Study population was all patients who had referred to Shahid Rajaie Heart Hospital. A total of 44 CHD patients hospitalized in internal wards for women and men، and private units، whose coronary artery occlusion had been confirmed by angiography، were selected by judgmental sampling method. In this study، Lazarus and Folkman''s Coping Questionnaire، and blood sugar kit (Pars Azmoon Company) were used. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics، Pearson correlation coefficients، and stepwise multiple regression، in SPSS 17. The results showed that، there was a significant positive correlation between emotion-based coping strategies and FBS (r=0. 680، P<0. 001)، but a significant negative correlation between problem-based coping strategies and FBS (r=-0. 720، P<0. 001). Among the eight strategies of coping with stress، only reappraisal coping strategy was an appropriate predictor for FBS. Furthermore، this method could predict 58% of variance in FBS. Overall، it is concluded that the increased use of emotion-based coping strategies، increase FBS level، and the increased use of problem-based coping strategies، lead to a decrease in FBS level.