Aim: To compare social support and coping ability in acute coronary syndrome patients at the time of the cardiac event with a healthy community-based sample, with regard to age, sex, education and marital status.

Method: The study comprised 241 patients and 316 healthy controls. The participants answered a self-administered questionnaire that included three well-established scales. Multiple logistic regression was used in the analysis to compare the health situation between the patients and controls.

Results: Persons suffering from acute coronary syndrome rated emotional support significantly lower than the healthy controls. However, there were no differences between the two groups in terms of socio-demographic variables.

Conclusion: This study indicates that social support may be a predictor of acute coronary syndrome.