Stress Perception of Open Heart Surgery Patients after Discharge--a Follow-up Study

Abstract

A heart surgery may ameliorate some heart disease, but, on the other hand, may cause stress. The stress that accompanies the surgery has an impact on an individual's physical, psychological, and social health while one is hospitalized as well as at home in convalescence. The purpose of this study was to examine stressors perceived by patients undergong heart surgery in one month and six months after being discharged from the hospital. A Stressor Scale developed by the researcher was used to survey sixty patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting or valve replacement in some large hospital in Taipei. Results showed that subjects identified physical discomforts, worrying about complications, inconvenient transportation, social life disturbance, waiting for treatment, need for a heart surgery, interruption of sleep, and severe disease or death of other person as the top five stressors in one month and six months after discharge. And, the perception of stress by subjects was a complicated dynamic process. Some stressors were mentioned to be important and continuously influencing subjects; however, some changed. Results of this study can be used as a reference for helping those heart surgery patients cope with the disease and surgery during the convalescence period. ，但卻給病人帶來許多的壓力。這些壓力也不會因病人出院而中止，反之，病人出院 後之居家時期，仍須面對許多的壓力。本研究以作者設計之壓力源量表為工具，選取 某醫學中心六十位心臟手術病人為對象，探討其在手術出院後一個月及六個月的壓力 源及其變化。研究結果發現心臟手術病人確認身體不適、擔心合併症、往返醫院的不 便、社交生活受限、等待醫療時間太長、患了嚴重的病必須開刀、睡眠受干擾、他人 病重或死亡、以及死亡的威脅為出院後一個月及六個月前六名之重要壓力源。研究亦 發現，在這段期間，病人的壓力感受是一個動態的複雜過程。有些壓力源一直存在； 而某些則是在六個月時有壓力感受增強之情形。本研究結果，可提供作為協助心臟手 術病人減輕壓力與調適的參考。