Gender and short-term recovery from cardiac surgery.
BACKGROUND
There has been a lack of agreement regarding whether women have poorer outcomes than men following cardiac surgery.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the effect of gender on early recovery from cardiac surgery.


METHODS
Using a prospective descriptive design, 60 men and 60 women who had coronary artery bypass and/or valve surgery completed the study by participating in interviews in the immediate preoperative period and monthly through the third postoperative month. Measures of life quality, life satisfaction, expected/perceived recovery, functional status, global health status, and social support were examined.


RESULTS
Preoperatively, women were more functionally limited (p = 0.019), and reported lower life satisfaction (p = 0.001) and social support (p = 0.006), than men. At 3 months postoperatively, there were few significant differences in outcome measures though women continued to report lesser social support (p = 0.002); women realized significantly greater improvement than men in functional status (p = 0.008); and neither age nor gender consistently predicted recovery.


CONCLUSIONS
Recent studies focusing on gender differences in cardiac surgery recovery indicate fewer differences between men and women than once thought. However, the differences identified in this study (women's significantly greater improvement in functional status, lesser social support, and differences in the nature of work to which women return following their surgery) warrant concern and attention in clinical practice.
King
K M
KM
Southern Alberta Nursing and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Nursing and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. kingk@ucalgary.ca
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000451:nursing / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation / Q000451:nursing / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires