Consequences of the Prolonged Waiting Time for Patients Candidates for Heart Surgery

• Autor(a) principal: Haddad,Nagib
• Data de Publicação: 2002
• Outros Autores: Bittar,Olímpio J. N. V., Pereira,Ana A. M., Silva,Maria Barbosa da, Amato,Vivian L., Farsky,Pedro S., Ramos,Auristela I. O., Sampaio,Marcelo, Almeida,Tarcísio L. V., Armaganijan,Dikran, Sousa,José Eduardo M. R.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0066-782X2002000500003
• topic: waiting lists for heart surgery; myocardial revascularization surgery; valvular heart surgery

OBJECTIVE - To assess mortality and the psychological repercussions of the prolonged waiting time for candidates for heart surgery. METHODS - From July 1999 to May 2000, using a standardized questionnaire, we carried out standardized interviews and semi-structured psychological interviews with 484 patients with coronary heart disease, 121 patients with valvular heart diseases, and 100 patients with congenital heart diseases. RESULTS - The coefficients of mortality (deaths per 100 patients/year) were as follows: patients with coronary heart disease, 5.6; patients with valvular heart diseases, 12.8; and patients with congenital heart diseases, 3.1 (p<0.0001). The survival curve was lower in patients with valvular heart diseases than in patients with coronary heart disease and congenital heart diseases (p<0.001). The accumulated probability of not undergoing surgery was higher in patients with valvular heart diseases than in the other patients (p<0.001), and, among the patients with valvular heart diseases, this probability was higher in females than in males (p<0.01). Several patients experienced intense anxiety and attributed their adaptive problems in the scope of love, professional, and social lives, to not undergoing surgery. CONCLUSION - Mortality was high, and even higher among the patients with valvular heart diseases, with negative psychological and social repercussions.