Quality of life of patients after coronary artery bypass graft

ABSTRACT

Background: Cardiac surgery is a large part of the final treatment of patients with acute coronary syndromes. After surgery, it is especially important for patients to maintain a good quality of life.

Aim: The purpose of this systematic review was to study the postoperative short- and long-term quality of life of patients who have undergone coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), as well as the factors that affect it.

Method: The literature was reviewed in the international PubMed and Science Direct database with the terms: (quality of life OR health related quality of life) and (coronary artery bypass grafting OR CABG). The review included primary studies in English that were published from 1/1/2010 to 1/10/2020 and related to the postoperative evaluation of the quality of life of adult patients who had undergone CABG.

Results: The review included 22 studies. The majority of studies are prospective follow-up studies, conducted in European countries, using the Short Form as a quality assessment tool and assessing the postoperative quality of life up to 12 months after surgery. Overall, all studies evaluated quality of life up to 12 years after cardiac surgery and found that the postoperative quality of life was significantly higher than the preoperative, with the maximum improvement in quality of life being observed up to 5 years after surgery. Prognostic factors of postoperative quality of life were found to be the presence of comorbidities such as diabetes, COPD, peripheral vascular disease, stroke and kidney disease, depression, smoking, severity of angina, cognitive function (due to stroke or dementia) and obesity. Men also had a greater improvement in postoperative quality of life than women. The improvement in postoperative quality of life did not differ between those undergoing conventional CABG and off-pump CABG.

Conclusion: CABG seems to have a positive effect on patients' quality of life. However, more randomized clinical trials are needed to evaluate various potential prognostic factors for quality of life.

Keywords: Coronary artery bypass graft, quality of life, patient