Patients’ and partners’ health-related quality of life before and 4 months after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery

Abstract

BackgroundPatients having coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) often depend on their partners for assistance before and after surgery. Whilst patients’ physical and mental health usually improves after surgery little is known about the partners’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in CABG. If the partners’ physical and emotional health is poor this can influence their caregiving role and ability to support the patient. This study aimed: to increase understanding of patients’ and partners’ HRQoL before and after CABG; to explore whether patients’ and partners’ pre-operative socio-demographics and HRQoL predict their own, and also partners’ HRQoL 4 months after CABG.MethodsThis prospective study recruited 84 dyads (patients 84% males, aged 64.5 years; partners 94% females, aged 61.05 years). Patients’ and partners’ perceived health status was assessed using the Short-Form 12 Health Survey. Patients’ physical limitation, angina symptoms and treatment satisfaction were assessed using the Seattle Angina Questionnaire. Partners’ emotional, physical and social functioning was assessed using the Quality of Life of Cardiac Spouses Questionnaire. Data were analysed using hierarchical multiple (logistic) regressions, repeated measures analysis of variance, paired t test and Chi square.ResultsPatients most likely to have poorer physical health post-operatively were associated with partners who had poorer pre-operative physical health. Partners most likely to have poorer emotional, physical and social functioning post-operatively were associated with patients who had poorer pre-operative mental health. Patients” and partners’ poorer post-operative HRQoL was also explained by their poorer pre-operative HRQoL.ConclusionThe partners’ involvement should be considered as part of patients’ pre-operative assessment. Special attention needs be paid to patients’ pre-operative mental health since it is likely to impact on their post-operative mental health and the partner’s emotional, physical and social functioning.

Factors Associated With Quality of Life Among Post Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Patients at a Cardiothoracic Centre in Malaysia

“…The concept that encompasses QOL is broad ranging, and is affected in a complex way by the person's physical health, psychological state, personal beliefs, social relationships and their relationship to salient features of their environment (WHO, 2004). Within the context of QOL, the CABG has shown to improve the quality of a person's life by being effective in preventing mortality , saving lives and reducing angina (V. M. Peric, Borzanovic, Stolic, Jovanovic, & Sovtic, 2006;Thomson, Niven, Peck, & Eaves, 2013). This is supported by several studies that reported post-CABG improvement of patients' quality of life (Taghipour et al, 2011;Thomson et al, 2013).…”

“…Within the context of QOL, the CABG has shown to improve the quality of a person's life by being effective in preventing mortality , saving lives and reducing angina (V. M. Peric, Borzanovic, Stolic, Jovanovic, & Sovtic, 2006;Thomson, Niven, Peck, & Eaves, 2013). This is supported by several studies that reported post-CABG improvement of patients' quality of life (Taghipour et al, 2011;Thomson et al, 2013). For instance, Anderson & Buckhardt (1999) has shown that about 90% of post CABG patients experienced significant improvement of quality of life (QOL) in their research.…”

Experiences of informal caregivers after cardiac surgery: a systematic integrated review of qualitative and quantitative studies

“…The median sample size across studies was 124 (range 34–734), and the mean age of caregivers enrolled was 61 years (range 37–82). Across the observational studies, we identified similar themes as found in the qualitative studies: caregiver work challenges (n=6)33–37; caregivers’ adaption to recovery including emotional responses (n=9)35 37–44; caregiver stress (n=4),41 43–48; caregivers’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) (n=9) 36 45–52. Thirteen studies also explored caregiver experiences of social support 37–39 42 43 45 46 49 51–55.…”

“…Partners reporting poorer emotional, physical and social functioning postoperatively were associated with patients who had poorer preoperative mental health. Poorer postoperative HRQoL was also associated with poorer preoperative HRQoL for both patients and partners (Thomson et al 47).…”

Regaining Normalcy in Relatives of Patients with a Pacemaker

“…A relative can be described as a hidden patient and life satisfaction of these individuals can often be lower than that of the actual patient [5]. It has been noted that the stress levels of relatives of patients hospitalized can be higher compared with the levels of the actual patients themselves [6] [7]. This may be due to the fact that the relatives of patients with a pacemaker may experience a heightened level of anxiety.…”