title: The costs of coronary artery surgery to the community.
abstract: The possible benefits obtained both for the community and patients following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) have been examined in 4001 patients (mean age 54 years, 14.8% female) who underwent CABG from 1971 to 1982 in the Cardiothoracic Surgical Unit of the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Assessment followed a fixed response format questionnaire sent to all patients with a total follow-up of 98.8%. The hospital mortality was 1.4% for the 10 year period with a fall from 4% in 1973 to 0.9% in 1981. Shifts in employment were assessed in survivors. At follow up, 548 patients who were previously employed had ceased full-time or part-time employment. This decrease in employment was attributed mainly to age. Analysis of retirement curves for the general male population and male patients showed a similar pattern but downward translation of 4% for the pre-operative group. A similar downward shift occurred following surgery. For female patients, performance of home duties improved from 159 patients on full home duties pre-operatively to 292 post-operatively. Visits to the doctor dropped in 50% of surviving patients. CABG has a low mortality. The community benefits by helping to maintain productivity and decreased cost for ongoing medical care.
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization / Q000191:economics*