[Quality of life in patients with pacemakers].
OBJECTIVE
On the occasion of the doctoral thesis "Epidemiologic study in pacemaker patients", the social and some health factors around the pacemaker patient has been studied.


METHODS
Data were obtained by a patient verbal questionnaire and the pacemaker follow-up form. The social parameters studied are: employment aspects, change life feeling, health feeling, sporting activity and change of intensity of pharmacologic treatment. Just to get alone a quantitative social parameter, a social resulting punctuation or "social balance" has been designed. It has been used in bi-variable relation against the symptoms, electrocardiogram, complications, time from the pacemaker implantation, pacemaker type, dependence of the pacemaker and social variables between himself. Among the 108 variables considered, it has been studied which of them had more weight in the "pacemaker profitability". Greatest profitability (and vice versa): greatest profit in symptoms and in social conditions, smallest number of complications; greater time passed and worst evolution of electrocardiogram. The numerical value of the "profitability" is set up by assigning 20 points to each foregoing concepts, obtaining a greatest theoretical punctuation of 100 points and a smallest of 0 points.


RESULTS
We obtained values of arithmetical mean, a frequency profile of quality life parameters, a profile of the better and worst situation in the bi-variable relation and the definition of those social factors who contributed to the segmentation of the "pacemaker profitability".


CONCLUSIONS
The kind of job and the time of going out of it after the pacemaker implantation, the changing life feeling, the health feeling after the pacemaker and the transport means to the hospital are the variables which contributed to discriminate the major and the minor profitability.
Borri Ferrán
M
M
Cardióloga de la Seguridad Social, Ambulatorio Central de Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona.
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012961:Sociology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Estudio de calidad de vida en portadores de marcapaso.