Fanaroff AC, et al. - In this post-hoc analysis of RIVER-PCI, a randomized trial in patients with chronic angina pectoris who had incomplete revascularization following percutaneous coronary intervention, researchers assessed the link between optimism regarding recovery and outcomes. They assessed the links of baseline optimism with time to ischemia-driven hospitalization or revascularization as well as with change in frequency of angina pectoris. This study included 2,389 patients, with 782 (33.2%) very optimistic (“strongly agree”), 1000 (42.4%) optimistic (“agree”), 451 (19.1%) neutral (“undecided”), and 123 (5.2%) not optimistic (“disagree” or “strongly disagree”) subjects. A lower prevalence of comorbidities and less severe angina at baseline were seen among very optimistic patients vs less optimistic patients. Neutral and not optimistic patients vs very optimistic patients had a higher rate of ischemia-driven revascularization or hospitalization; this finding persisted after adjustment for comorbidities and baseline angina frequency. Overall, better health status outcomes were observed among angina patients with more self-reported optimism.