Effects of rehabilitation training on the quality of life of patients with severe coronary heart disease after by-pass grafting / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the effects of rehabilitation intervention on the quality of life (QOL) of patients after coronary artery bypass grafting. Methods Fifty-eight hospital patients in need of coronary artery by-pass grafting (CABG) were randomly assigned to a cardiac rehabilitation group ( rehab ; n = 31 ) or a routine care group (control; n = 27 ). In the rehab group, patients received progressively increasing movement and appropriate psychological intervention. Changes in the medical outcome study short form (SF-36) scores and 6 min walk dis-tances (6MWDs)as well as the length of post-operative stays in hospital were observed in both groups. Results Compared with the control group, patients in the rehab group scored significantly higher on the SF-36. Their physical functioning, general health, vitality, role-emotion and mental health scores improved significantly, their final 6MWDs were longer, and they had significantly shorter average hospital stays after the operation. Conclusions Rehabilita-tion training can improve QOL for patients after coronary artery bypass grafting.