Heart & Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care
Volume 35, Issue 4 , Pages 245-251, July 2006

Health outcomes of patients undergoing cardiac surgery: Repeated measures using Short Form-36 and 15 Dimensions of Quality of Life questionnaire

  • Doug Elliott, RN, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests: Doug Elliott, RN, PhD, Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, University of Technology, Sydney, PO Box 123 Broadway NSW 2007, Australia.
    • ,
  • Ross Lazarus, MBBS, MD

      Affiliations

    • Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
    • ,
  • Stephen R. Leeder, BMedSc(Hons), MBBS, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Australian Health Policy Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.

Objective

The study assessed health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients before and after cardiac surgery.

Design

This was a prospective repeated-measures observational study.

Setting

The study took place in a 650-bed tertiary referral hospital in Sydney, Australia.

Methods

HRQOL was measured using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36-item health survey (SF-36) and the 15 Dimensions of Quality of Life questionnaire before surgery, at hospital discharge, and 6 months postdischarge.

Results

Participants were representative of the cardiac surgery population. Scores for several concepts deteriorated at hospital discharge when compared with presurgery. There were significant improvements in health status at 6 months postdischarge when compared with previous measures for the majority of SF-36 and 15 Dimensions of Quality of Life questionnaire concepts, although mental health and social functioning demonstrated significant deterioration. SF-36 scores were substantially lower than population norms, but similar to previous studies of patients undergoing cardiac surgery except for mental health.

Conclusion

Deterioration in health status at hospital discharge when compared with presurgery status reinforces the need for further patient care and support after discharge. All dimensions improved after 6 months, except mental health. This information can guide patient expectations regarding rehabilitation posthospitalization, and cardiac surgical services should implement and evaluate formal “outreach programs” for these patients.

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 This work was supported in part by a grant from the Westmead Hospital Charitable Trust.

PII: S0147-9563(05)00178-0

doi:10.1016/j.hrtlng.2005.10.004

Heart & Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care
Volume 35, Issue 4 , Pages 245-251, July 2006

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