Introduction:

Myocardial infarction is an acute disease whose care must be immediate and the optimization of its clinical situation is related to beliefs and the way people experience the disease process.

Objective:

To understand the path taken by people who experience an acute myocardial infarction in search of their best health condition.

Methods:

qualitative descriptive research, carried out from February to May 2018, with 12 young adults. For data collection, a semi-structured questionnaire, an interview script with open questions, and a field diary were used. Thematic content analysis was performed, after data treatment, using qualitative research software.

Results:

three central themes emerged, which were characterized as experiences of health and illness (understanding of the disease), perception of risk, and interaction with the institutions.

Conclusion:

there was a delay in recognizing the signs and symptoms of acute myocardial infarction, which prevented the prompt search for health care.

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