Single-living is associated with increased risk of long-term mortality among employed patients with acute myocardial infarction

OBJECTIVE: There is conflicting evidence about the impact of social support on adverse outcome after acute myocardial infarction (MI). We examined the relation between single-living and long-term all-cause mortality after MI. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study of 242 employed patients with MI followed up to 16 years after MI. RESULTS: A total of 106 (43.8%) patients died during the follow-up. Single-living nearly doubled the risk of death; after adjusting for potential confounding factors, single-living was an independent predictor of death, with a hazard ratio of 2.55 (95% confidence interval: 1.52–4.30). Other predictors of death were diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation, age, and ejection fraction less than 35%. CONCLUSION: Single-living is a prognostic determinant of long-term all-cause mortality after MI.