Matthews K A, Siegel J M, Kuller L H, Thompson M, Varat M
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1983 Jun;44(6):1144-56. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.44.6.1144.
The present study examined the type A behavior, symptom experience, and decisions to seek treatment of patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) symptoms. Subjects were 43 patients admitted to the coronary care units of one of two hospitals for a suspected infarct. They were interviewed in the hospital, usually within 5 days of their arrival. The interview included questions about the patients' prehospital symptom experience, demographic characteristics, and Type A behaviors. Analyses revealed that the patients who delayed in the early phase of seeking treatment (i.e., excessive time between patients' noting initial symptoms and deciding they were ill) were those who reported that they characteristically exhibited some Type A behaviors, that they experienced little initial pain at a time when work was quite demanding, and that they responded to their symptoms with depression and fatigue. Moreover, they were currently quite pessimistic about their health. Those who delayed in the later phase (i.e., excessive time between patients' deciding they were ill and deciding they would seek treatment) were persons who were assessed as Type B on the Structured Interview and who talked to others to assess the meaning of their symptoms. The implications of the findings for a stage model of delay are discussed and some limitations of the present study are considered.
本研究调查了急性心肌梗死（MI）症状患者的A型行为、症状体验以及寻求治疗的决策。研究对象为两所医院之一的冠心病监护病房收治的43例疑似心肌梗死患者。他们在入院后接受了访谈，通常是在入院后5天内。访谈内容包括患者院前症状体验、人口统计学特征以及A型行为。分析结果显示，在寻求治疗早期出现延迟的患者（即从患者注意到初始症状到确定自己患病之间的时间过长），是那些报告自己典型地表现出一些A型行为、在工作要求很高的时候几乎没有感到初始疼痛、并且以抑郁和疲劳应对症状的患者。此外，他们目前对自己的健康非常悲观。在后期出现延迟的患者（即从患者确定自己患病到决定寻求治疗之间的时间过长），是那些在结构化访谈中被评定为B型人格且会与他人交流以评估自身症状意义的人。本文讨论了这些发现对延迟阶段模型的启示，并考虑了本研究的一些局限性。
