title: Health-related quality of life and post-traumatic stress disorder in patients after cardiac surgery and intensive care treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Health-related quality of life and patient satisfaction have become important end points in cardiac surgery. Post-traumatic stress disorder has been described in patients with life-threatening heart disease. In this study, we investigated the occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder in a sample of patients after cardiac surgery and compared health-related quality of life and patient satisfaction between patients with and without evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 80 patients serially admitted to the intensive care unit after cardiac surgery (bypass grafting, n = 51; aortic valve replacement, n = 29). Health-related quality of life was assessed with the use of the SF-36 Health Status Questionnaire. Post-traumatic stress disorder was measured with a previously validated instrument (the Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome 10-Questions Inventory), and 20 different aspects of life satisfaction were quantified on a scale ranging from 0 to 10. For measurements of health-related quality of life and post-traumatic stress disorder, age- and gender-comparable healthy individuals, as well as patients with cardiovascular diseases, served as control groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients who had cardiac surgery described high life satisfaction summary scores (156 of a maximum of 200 points) and only small impairments in physical and mental SF-36 summary scores when compared with healthy control groups (median reduction 7.15, P <.05). Patients with evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (n = 15) reported the lowest SF-36 mental health summary scores when compared with patients without stress disorder (38.3 vs 48.4, P =.004) and rated their life satisfaction lower (121.5 vs 162.0, P =.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients who have had cardiac surgery demonstrate a high life satisfaction with an acceptable degree of physical and mental health-related quality of life. Impairments in psychosocial function and life satisfaction were found in a subgroup of patients with evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Anaesthesiology, Cardiac Surgery, and Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany. christian.stoll@ana.med.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stoll
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schelling
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Goetz
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kilger
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bayer
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Kapfhammer
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Rothenhäusler
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kreuzer
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reichart
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Peter
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003422:Critical Care; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications*