Social portrait of patients of the cardio-rehabilitation unit of a large cardio-surgical center

Abstract

Background. The social portrait of patients often helps to define preventive measures for specific diseases in patients of different social and age groups. Need in cardio-surgery is substantiated not only by inborn but also by acquired diseases of heart, in most cases - ischaemic heart disease. The development of cardiovascular diseases is affected by multiple factors including lifestyle. Objective. To analyze the social and behavioral characteristics of cardio-surgical patients. Materials and methods. The authors analyzed the results of a survey of 93 patients in the rehabilitation unit of V.I. Burakovsky Research Institute of Cardiosurgery in 2019. The adapted questionnaire for identifying factors affecting population health was used. The respondents were divided into 3 age groups: 12 patients were under 40 years (mean age of 30.1, 75.0% men); 50 patients - 40-65 years (mean age of 56.4, 76.0% men); 30 patients - 65+ years (mean age of 70.3, 50.0% men). To analyze differences Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were applied. Results. Educational level is increasing with age. Financial well-being was estimated as poverty by one-third of respondents in all groups. 5.4% are dissatisfied with their family relations. The feeling of loneliness is often experienced by 4.3% of respondents. About one-half of respondents mentioned they do not care about their health and 18.5% of the don’t know their diseases to be treated using cardio-surgery. More than half of respondents are uneasy about their future uncertainty. Discussion. The respondent’s’ social status differs in age groups. The social and behavioral characteristics of patients of the cardio-rehabilitation unit allow them to create an integrated social portrait. Conclusions. Patients of cardio-rehabilitation units are characterized by higher educational levels and employment, better financial conditions. Among them, there were few lonely persons, but many sedentary ones. Such patients are characterized by a non-responsible attitude to their health, higher frequency of smoking, overweight, and obesity. Age-specific differences are related to physical fitness but nor to attitude to health neither to self-protective behavior.