Publications (4)0 Total impact
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Article: Quality of life after coronary artery bypass graft surgery in the elderly.
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ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to explore the quality of life of elderly patients after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The present study employed a pre-post test design. Sixty three elderly patients (>or=65 years), operated in one big general hospital in Athens, were interviewed before, 4 months and 12 months after CABG with the MacNew Heart disease health-related quality of life questionnaire. The majority of the sample were male (N=48, 76.2%), married (N=49, 77.8%) and pensioners (N=54, 61.7%). After the operation and before discharge 42 (66.6%) patients presented complications. One year after the operation, 45 (80.4%) patients experienced improvement and only 11 (19.6%) deterioration in their reported quality of life. Despite this postoperative improvement in all domains, a high percentage of patients (>60%) continued to report exacerbation in questions related to self confidence and dependence to others indicating an overprotective environment. Approximately one in two patients reported signs of cognitive dysfunction during the postoperative period. Elderly patients knew very little about their disease, especially before the operation (mean=2.03, SD=0.69, R=1-5). Educational level, presence of complications in the immediate postoperative period and reported angina were related to a poorer QoL. A high proportion of the patients experienced improvement while a substantial number had exacerbations related to self confidence and dependence to others. An important step to improve this situation might be through the institution of a structured multi-disciplinary rehabilitation program with focus on emotional support, information giving and education to elderly CABG patients and their significant others.European journal of cardiovascular nursing: journal of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology 04/2008; 8(1):74-81. -
Article: Information and perioperative education of cardiac surgery patients
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ABSTRACT: Today, in a turbulent and competitive health care environment patients more and more, seek to learn what is happening in their own situation and participate in planning their health care and decision-making. Cardiac surgery patients are discharged earlier and anticipate many problems during the rehabilitation period. Preoperative and postoperative education of the patients is of great importance and patients knowledge of self care after discharge is a main outcome indicator of the quality of the provide services. The aim of this study was to assess cardiac surgery patients’ knowledge of self care after the discharge and explore any correlation with the patient characteristics. The sample consisted of 91 patients who admitted during 3 months in two cardiac surgery wards and had an open-heart operation. A special questionnaire was developed based on four dimensions: general, diet, rest, and drugs. Patients scored higher the diet scale (mean=1,91, SD=0,26, scale 0-2) and lower the drug scale ( mean=0,10, SD=0,4, scale 0-2). The majority of the patients wanted to learn more (98,9%) and nurses had not been involved in the educational process. The analysis of variance revealed an indication of correlation between the educational level and the patients’ knowledge but the small sample does not allow safe conclusions. The results can be used for the planning of the patients’ preoperative and postoperative education. -
Article: Quality of life after coronary artery bypass surgery: a pilot study
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ABSTRACT: Aim: The aim of this study is to compare the quality of life of coronary artery bypass graft patients before and after the operation. This is a pilot project of a greater research effort whose main aim is to assess the quality of life of those patients over different times after the operation and also to explore the ability of preoperative variables to predict improved outcome. Material - Method: The collection of data was based on interviews with patients before and 4 months after the operation by using the MacNew Heart disease health-related quality of life questionnaire. The study sample consisted of 30 patients (25 men, 5 women) with mean age of 64.8 years (SD=8.54) and average length of stay 15.5 days (SD=5.78). The most frequent risk factors were the lack of exercise (90%) and smoking (66.7%) History of cardiovascular disease was reported by 11 patients (36.7%). Results: There was a significant improvement of the physical (+3.46 - P<0.05) and social (+2.71 - P<0.05) state of the patients after the operation. The emotional state of the patients showed a very small improvement (+0.50 - P=0,16) and the cognitive ability, as it was measured by three questions, showed a decline (0.93 - P<0.001). The internal consistency reliability of the questionnaire ranged from 0.83 to 0.92 for the physical, emotional and social subscales. Conclusions: The results to great degree show that coronary artery bypass surgery enhances the physical and social function of the patients 4 months after the operation but there is a significant need to further explore the effect on the emotional and cognitive state of the patients as well as the possible associated factors. -
Article: Quality of life after coronary artery bypass grafting: a comparative study
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ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life in elderly patients before and 4 months after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) operation in order to identify areas for interventions and further improvement of the provided care. This is part of a bigger project to assess the quality of life in CABG patients over time. The collection of data was based on interviews by using the MACNE.W heart disease health-related quality of life questionnaire. The study sample consisted of 120 cardiac artery bypass surgery patients (CABS) (100 men, 20 women) with a mean Age of 63.13 years (±8.55) and an average length of stay 14.2 days (±4.78). There was a significant improvement of the physical (+1.79, P<0.001) and social (+1.57, P<0.001) state of the patients after the operation. The emotional state of the patients showed a very small improvement (+0.56, P=0,001) and the cognitive ability, as it was measured by three questions, showed a decline (-0.51, P<0.001). Patients, 4 months after the operation, exhibited a lower level of self-confidence and were more dependent on others. Sex, age, physical condition before the operation and chest pain were found to be related to the quality of life before and after the operation. The assessment of the quality of life has to be established as an official outcome indicator for the evaluation of therapeutic interventions of cardiac artery disease (CAD) patients. It is imperative that government plan and implement rehabilitation programs in order to cover the individual needs and enhance the quality of life of CABG patients.
