Health Related Quality of Life of Patients after Cardiac Surgery

  Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the primary cause of disability and morbidity in many developed countries around the world. But timely management with cardiac surgery can reduce the mortality. Objectives: To assess the health related quality of life (HRQOL) of the CVD patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Materials and Methods:  This cross-sectional observational study was carried out among purposively selected CABG patients from January to December 2013. A total of 78 post CABG patients were interviewed with short form health survey (SF-36) questionnaire at different hospitals in Dhaka. Results: The study patients age ranged from 40 to 82 years and the proportion were higher among those of more than 60 years (38.5%) of age. Majority (48.7%) were educated up to HSC level. Explaining the characteristics of illness, the average duration of sufferings was 121.91±115.31 days and Post treatment duration in month was 14.97±19.25. The study findings showed a good level of QOL; with an average score of 78.2. The mental and physical components scores were 79.9 & 77.1 respectively. There were statistically significant (p<0.001) negative association between age and total component of quality of life of patients. In relation with sex, average total quality of life scores of male and female were 80.5±10.5 and 74.4±14 respectively which was statistically significant (p<0.001). Similarly, comparing to pre-treatment state, statistically significant (p<0.001) difference was found between groups quality of life. Similarly statistically significant difference was found with occupation in relation to total quality of life (p<0.001), physical component (p<0.01) and with mental component (p<0.05) of participants. Conclusion:  Subjective perceptions of physical and psychological well-being changed significantly from before treatment to at least 3 months after treatment and better HRQOL noticed to the patients treated with CABG. Journal of Armed Forces Medical College Bangladesh Vol.14(1) 2018: 50-53