Weight change in cardiac transplant patients.
The perception exists that excessive weight gain commonly occurs after cardiac transplantation. To examine this perception, 91 transplant patients from one to eight years post-transplant responded to a questionnaire eliciting data on premorbid and post-transplant weights, exercise frequency, and fat intake. Only 37% of subjects weighed more post-transplant than premorbidly. More than half of the subjects were over their ideal weights premorbidly and post-transplant. On t-test there was no significant difference (p less than .05) between weight gainers and weight losers in exercise frequency (t = .63; p = .53), or fat intake (t = -.80; p = .43). Findings of the study dispute the perception of excessive weight gain post-transplantation. This perception may be due to the comparison of cachectic pre-transplant weight with well weight post-transplant. Since more than half of the subjects were over their ideal weight post-transplantation, teaching regarding weight control remains important. Future research on effective methods of weight control is needed.
Rubin
S
S
Dale
J
J
Santamaria
C
C
Tomalty
J
J
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D011184:Postoperative Period; D015430:Weight Gain; D015431:Weight Loss