Background and Objective: Little is known about how experience with a previous acute myocardial infarction (AMI) impacts individuals’ reactions to symptoms of a recurrent episode. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare patients experiencing a first AMI with those experiencing a recurrent AMI in terms of their use of coping strategies during the acute event.

Methods: Secondary data analyses were performed to examine differences in the use of coping strategies between individuals with and without a history of AMI. Mann-Whitney U was performed to compare those with (n = 26) and without (n = 109) a previous AMI with respect to 15 coping strategies, each of which was measured on a 5-point Likert scale.

Results: Patients with a history of AMI were more likely to use prescribed medications to deal with their symptoms than patients who did not have a previous AMI (M = 1.5 and .20; mdn = 2.0 and 0.0 respectively; p < .001). However, patients who had no previous AMI were more likely to respond by taking non-prescription medications (M = .90 and .60; mdn = 1.0 and 0.0 respectively; p = 04). 

Conclusions In general, the results suggest that patients with and without history of AMI tend to respond to their symptoms with similar coping strategies. When differences occurred, patients with and without a history of AMI differed only with respect to the type of self-medication choices they made. Implications pertaining to these findings are discussed.