EFFECT OF AN INFORMATION INTERVENTION ON RECOVERY OUTCOMES OF PATIENTS AND SPOUSES FOLLOWING CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS SURGERY.
Contributors: Case Western Reserve University.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 270
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery.
Description: The first six weeks of recovery from coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is a potential source of stressors for patients and families and is frequently associated with alterations in individual and family functioning. The theory of self-regulation (Leventhal & Johnson, 1983) suggests that individuals are better able to cope with threatening situations associated with physical illness if there is congruency between what is expected and what is experienced. The literature supports that this congruency is facilitated by preparatory information that focuses on physical symptoms and their management during illness, decreasing the perception of intensity of symptoms, decreasing distress, and improving physical outcomes.

This study consisted of two phases. The first phase was a descriptive study in which the information intervention was developed. The second phase was a quasi-experimental study in which the effect of a preparatory sensory information intervention on CABG patient and spouse recovery outcomes one month following surgery was tested. Recovery outcomes were compared between two groups of subjects: those receiving the sensory information intervention and those receiving a standard cardiac discharge information program.

The convenience sample was comprised of 82 patients and their spouses. Outcome measures included (a) patient and spouse psychological distress, measured by the Profile of Mood States (POMS); (b) patient physical functioning, measured by the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP); (c) spouse physical functioning, measured by an investigator-developed instrument, the Spouse Physical Assessment Questionnaire; and (d) patient and spouse perception of family functioning, measured by the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES III). Data on all outcome variables were collected one month following surgery.

Using ANOVA to compare the means of each group, better physical functioning of patients and a higher level of spouse perception of family functioning were found in the experimental group. No group differences were found in patient or spouse levels of psychological distress. Findings from this study provide additional knowledge about the impact of sensory information in long term illness situations (CABG recovery) for both patients and spouses.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-08, Section: B, page: 4082.

Thesis (PH.D.)--CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY (HEALTH SCIENCES), 1993.

School code: 0499.