RECOVERY FOLLOWING SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH DURING HOSPITALIZATION.
Contributors: University of Washington.
Published: 1990
Number of pages: 358
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery.; Psychology, Clinical.
Description: The purpose of this study was to describe the emotional, cognitive, and physiological responses of survivors of sudden cardiac arrest (SCD) to the event during hospitalization. The emotional responses that were measured in this study included anxiety, depression, anger, and denial. The cognitive responses that were measured included confusion, uncertainty, control, and neurocognitive functioning. The physiological responses that were measured included heartrate variability, complex ventricular ectopy, and interventions used to control cardiac arrhythmias. A convenience sample of 21 survivors of ventricular fibrillation were recruited for study participation in 3 area Seattle hospitals. Study participants were interviewed every 48 hours while in the hospital using a repeated measures design.

Emotional responses were determined using the Profile of Mood States Questionnaire (POMS) and the Ways of Coping Checklist (Revised). Cognitive responses were measured using the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale (MUIS), the POMS, the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Statue Exam (NCSE), and several author developed questions. Physiological responses were determined using 24 hour holter recordings of heart rate, and information derived from medical records and health care providers.

Results indicated that individuals were very disturbed by their experiences during recovery. Anxiety, depression, anger, and confusion were all below normative values during hospitalization. Uncertainty, feelings of lack of control, and denial were all consistently high throughout hospitalization. Heart rate variability, measured within 24 hours of the cardiac arrest, was low in all survivors. Sudden death survivors left the hospital with undetected neurological impairments, the two most important being memory deficits and lack of problem solving ability. Complex ventricular ectopy and interventions used to manage cardiac arrhythimas were most acute in the first 3 days following resuscitation.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: B, page: 5807.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, 1990.

School code: 0250.