Quality of Life after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) in Older Adults

Abstract

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) considers people over the age of 65 as older adults. These people usually suffer from chronic diseases including Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) surgery is a common surgery operated on these patients to increase survival and improve patients’ Quality of Life (QOL); however, previous studies have provided inconsistent results in terms of true benefits of CABG in older adults. We aimed to assess QOL in older adults after CABG. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 150 patients over 65 and 150 patients under 65 were contacted for follow-up 10 weeks after CABG. The SF36 questionnaire was used to measure QOL and between-group comparisons were carried out using descriptive statistics. Results: Physical functioning, physical role, and the total score of QOL were significantly lower in older patients than the younger patients (p =0.001). Conclusion: During the ageing period, different factors such as retirement and physical damages among other factors affect an individual’s actions and moods. In addition, elderlies are usually dealing with several illnesses and consequently take a number of different drugs. This indicates that the quality of life in elderlies does not improve after CABG surgery compared to their younger years.

Keywords

• quality of life
• cabg
• older adults