Rehabilitation and guidance as reported by women and men who had undergone coronary bypass surgery

Loneliness in Professional Caring Relationships, Health, and Recovery

This study investigated patients' experiences of loneliness in professional caring relationships and their associations with perceived recovery, health, psychological distress, and general loneliness in life. The sample consisted of 406 patients who had undergone breast cancer or heart surgery 6 months earlier. The data were collected in May 2014-March 2015 using a postal survey including the Caring Loneliness Scale (CARLOS), questions concerning perceived health and recovery, 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and a question concerning perceived general loneliness in life. Data analysis was done using Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test. The variables showing a statistically significant association with professional caring loneliness were perceived health, recovery, psychological distress, and general loneliness in life. It is necessary for health care professionals to identify the phenomenon of this dimension of loneliness because it is bound to affect patients' experiences. Further studies with different patient groups are required.

Quality of life in elderly patients following coronary artery bypass grafting

BACKGROUND

Surgical revascularization of the coronary arteries leads to changes in quality of life (QoL) for patients with coronary heart disease. The aim of this work was to monitor QoL, considering cognitive function, depression, and activities of daily living in elderly patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

METHODS

This study included 65 patients (29 women and 36 men) aged 61-74 years with stable coronary heart disease who underwent CABG. The control group included 29 women and 36 men aged 61-74 years who were not suffering from coronary heart disease. The questionnaires used in the study canvassed QoL (Nottingham Health Profile), cognitive function, depression, and basic and instrumental activities of daily living. The research was conducted before surgery and repeated 6 and 12 months after surgery.

RESULTS

QoL was comparable between women and men and was lower than in the control group (P<0.05). After CABG, the values for particular domains of QoL improved more in men than in women. There was a reduction in the severity of depression 6 months after surgery in men and 12 months after surgery in women.

CONCLUSION

Elderly patients with coronary heart disease have decreased QoL, which normalizes in men and improves in women after CABG.

Patient recovery and transitions after hospitalization for acute cardiac events: an integrative review

Despite increased attention to providing seamless transitions after hospitalization, patients often feel unprepared, lack knowledge, and may be confused by what to expect during recovery at home after a cardiac event. Care transition after hospital discharge could be improved by informing and counseling patients more specifically about expected recovery after a cardiac event. Therefore, an integrative review of research was conducted to evaluate cardiac patients' trajectory of recovery after hospitalization. A total of 61 studies were included in this review. Studies included were those of cardiac patients who had been hospitalized for significant cardiac events and those focused on acute coronary syndrome (n = 18), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (n = 12), cardiac surgery (coronary artery bypass surgery and valve surgery; n = 25), and heart failure (n = 6). Studies included quantitative, mixed-methods, and qualitative designs, with sample sizes ranging from 4 to 2121 participants. Notwithstanding the limitations of this review, findings demonstrated that patients' perceptions of their cardiac event evolved over time from uncertainty, fears, anxiety, and depression, which were often associated with a lack of knowledge of their cardiac condition, to a phase of self-management of their cardiac condition. Furthermore, patterns of commonly occurring symptoms and changes in functioning abilities during recovery after hospitalization were apparent among the different cardiac groups. These findings may be useful to both patients and clinicians to inform them about the recovery trajectory after a cardiac event to improve preparation for the transition from hospital to home.

Predictors of depressive symptoms among coronary heart disease patients: A cross-sectional study nine years after coronary artery bypass grafting

OBJECTIVE

This study sought to identify the incidence of depression and its associations with demographic, lifestyle, perceived health, symptoms, treatment, and social support variables in patients 9 years after a coronary artery bypass graft.

METHODS

The questionnaire was mailed to 152 surviving patients who had undergone a coronary artery bypass graft 9 years earlier, and who had been respondents in an earlier study. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, and social support was measured using Social Support from the Network Scale. Descriptive statistics and the linear regression method were used for analysis.

RESULTS

Depressive symptoms were reported by one fourth of the patients. The predictors for depressive symptoms included gender, perceived health, cardiac ischemic symptoms at rest, and emotional social support, which explained 24% of the variance. Controlling for gender revealed that the predictors for women and men were different.

CONCLUSIONS

Depression is more difficult to predict in men than in women.