Return to work after a first myocardial infarction. A test of multiple hypotheses.

The relationship between return to work within one year after a first myocardial infarction and selected sociodemographic, health, psychosocial, and vocational characteristics was assessed in 151 patients aged 24 to 70 years. Seventy-two percent of the sample returned to work. Education, physical activity associated with employment, severity of myocardial infarction, perception of health status, financial incentives, socioeconomic status, treatment hospital, rated social health status, locus of control, satisfaction with work, and early entry into the job force each proved to be significantly associated with return to work in independent univariate analyses. A stepwise multivariate regression analysis identified only the first four factors as important predictors of return to work. Further analyses show that given knowledge of the patients' educational level and the physical activity associated with employment, 71% of patients who returned to work were correctly classified. Return to work proved easier to predict than work disability. More knowledge is needed about the factors that are critical to a failure to resume employment after a myocardial infarction.