Quality of life after open-heart surgery in patients over 75 years old

In a postal study we used the Nottingham Health Profile questionnaire to assess the quality of life of elderly survivors of open-heart surgery. From January 1984 to October 1993, 146 patients over 75 years of age underwent open-heart surgery in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at Besancon (France). Eleven patients (7.5%) died in the immediate post-operative course. Patients' mean follow-up was 3.4 +/- 2.4 years. Fourteen patients died during follow-up. One hundred and four completed Nottingham Wealth Profile questionnaires were returned. Five per cent of the patients lived in an old people's home. Six per cent of the patients were unable to walk at all. One patient out of five felt isolated. Fifteen per cent of the patients were in constant pain. Half of the patients took sleeping pills. Conversely, 87% of the patients felt an improvement after surgery. Sixty-two per cent continued to drive. Ninety-seven patients (92%) did at least one of the following three activities: watched television, listened to the radio, read books or magazines. Fifty-eight patients (56%) walked on a regular basis. The different types of pathology, of surgical procedures and whether or not a pacemaker was implanted during the post-operative course were not reflected in the quality of life (QOL) scores. After cardiac surgery, most of the patients were physically autonomous and related to their exterior world.