Body image changes associated with dual-chamber pacemaker insertion in women

Davis, Leslie L.; Vitale, Kimberly A.; Irmiere, Claudia A.; Hackney, Tina A.; Belew, Kathryn M.; Chikowski, Ann Marie R.; Sullivan, Cynthia A.; Hellkamp, Anne S.; Schron, Eleanor B.; Lamas, Gervasio A.; Mode Selection Trial in Sinus Node Dysfunction (MOST) Investigators and Coordinators,

doi:10.1016/j.hrtlng.2004.04.005

« Previous Next »Heart & Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care
Volume 33, Issue 5 , Pages 273-280, September 2004

Body image changes associated with dual-chamber pacemaker insertion in women

Leslie L. Davis, MSN, RN, CS, ANP
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Address for reprints: Leslie Davis, MSN, RN, CS, ANP, University of NC at Chapel Hill, CB 7460, Carrington Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7460 USA
Kimberly A. Vitale, BSN, RN
- Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL, USA
Claudia A. Irmiere, MS, RN, CCRN
- Saint Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Paterson, NJ, USA
Tina A. Hackney, MSN, RN, CS, FNP
- Alamance Regional Medical Center, Burlington, NC, USA
Kathryn M. Belew, MSN, RN, CNS
- Cardiology Clinical Research, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
Ann Marie R. Chikowski, BSN, RN, CCRC
- Main Line Health Heart Center, Wynnewood, PA, USA
Cynthia A. Sullivan, MS, RN, CCRN
- University Community Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA
Anne S. Hellkamp, MS
- Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, NC, USA
Eleanor B. Schron, MS, RN, FAAN
- Clinical Trials Scientific Research Group, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
Gervasio A. Lamas, MD
- Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL, USA
Mode Selection Trial in Sinus Node Dysfunction (MOST) Investigators and Coordinators

Abstract

Purpose

The study’s purpose was to examine body image changes in subjects participating in a long-term multicenter pacemaker trial.

Methods

At study closeout, 383 adults, all of whom had received a dual-chamber pacemaker, completed questionnaires evaluating what effect their pacemaker or pacemaker site and scar had on them or their spouses or significant others.

Results

Most reported that their pacemaker did not change the way they or their spouses or significant others felt about their body (73.2% and 93.5%, respectively). Most (87.1%) denied feeling differently because of the pacemaker site and scar. Most were not concerned how their clothes fit or about wearing a swimsuit (92.0% and 90.7%, respectively). Women were more concerned about how the pacemaker site and scar made them feel about their body (P = .001), clothes fitting (P = .002), and wearing a swimsuit (P = .004). Men were more concerned with how their spouses or significant others perceived them postimplantation (P = .021).