Artificial pacemaker patients-treatment outcome and Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire.

Abstract

Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire was administered to a series of patients admitted to hospital for the insertion of an artificial cardiac pacemaker. The patients were interviewed on 3 occasions, the first in hospital, the 2nd and 3rd in the patient's home at 3 and 6 months after pacemaker insertion. GHQ results were analysed in relation to a 3-point scale of outcome which included the categories ‘disappointing’, ‘qualified success’ and ‘outstanding success’. At the first interview all 3 groups gave higher scores than would be expected in a ‘normal’ population, but the difference between the groups at 3 months was very significant (p<0.001), and at 6 months was also significant (p<0.01). The reduction of mean scores over the 6 month period reflected a tendency to return to normal in all but the ‘disappointing’ group. The GHQ was given once to a group of controls matched for age, sex and social class. Differences among the controls were not significant, their scores being predominantly normal.