Body image changes associated with dual-chamber pacemaker insertion in women

PURPOSE: The study's purpose was to examine body image changes in subjects participating in a long-term multicenter pacemaker trial. METHODS: At study closeout, 383 adults, all of whom had received a dual-chamber pacemaker, completed questionnaires evaluating what effect their pacemaker or pacemaker site and scar had on them or their spouses or significant others. RESULTS: Most reported that their pacemaker did not change the way they or their spouses or significant others felt about their body (73.2% and 93.5%, respectively). Most (87.1%) denied feeling differently because of the pacemaker site and scar. Most were not concerned how their clothes fit or about wearing a swimsuit (92.0% and 90.7%, respectively). Women were more concerned about how the pacemaker site and scar made them feel about their body (P =.001), clothes fitting (P =.002), and wearing a swimsuit (P =.004). Men were more concerned with how their spouses or significant others perceived them postimplantation (P =.021). CONCLUSIONS: Most subjects did not express undue concern about changes in body image.