Lifestyle and health status in long-term cardiac transplant recipients.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this pilot study was to describe the lifestyle and health status of long-term cardiac transplant recipients.


METHODS
The study was a descriptive correlational design at a health sciences center.


METHODS
We measured lifestyle, using the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II, and indicators of health status (eg, number of medications, infections, and rejections; systolic and diastolic blood pressure; lipid profile; and percent ideal body weight) in 47 patients after an annual evaluation or follow-up visit after patients received cardiac transplantation.


RESULTS
Patients were primarily male, white, 56.5 years old and 75.6 months after transplant. Spiritual growth was the most frequently reported lifestyle characteristic (mean, 27.4; SD, 4.9). The least frequently reported lifestyle characteristic was engagement in physical activity (mean, 18.4; SD, 5.7). Factorial between-subjects analysis of variance demonstrated that women had a higher high-density lipoprotein level (P =.0001) and reported healthier dietary habits (P =.02) and greater spiritual growth (P =.006) than men. African Americans reported poorer stress management behaviors (P =.04). Recipients whose heart failure was due to ischemic cardiomyopathy had a lower percent ideal body weight than those with a nonischemic cause (P =.01). Recipients with cardiac allograft vasculopathy had a higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (P =.05) and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (P =.05) than those without cardiac allograft vasculopathy, and those persons who required maintenance corticosteroid therapy reported poorer interpersonal relationships than those persons not receiving corticosteroids (P =.04).


CONCLUSIONS
Cardiac transplant recipients did not consistently include health-promoting behaviors in their lifestyles although some of the behaviors were associated with a better health status. Future research should be aimed at identifying factors that affect the ability to make and sustain changes in lifestyle and improve health status.
Salyer
J
J
Department of Adult Health Nursing, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, 23298, USA.
Sneed
G
G
Corley
M C
MC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology