Depression before and after operation in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting and the effect thereof on quality of life

Abstract

To investigate the presence and severity of depression before and after operation in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and the effect thereof on the quality of life. A validated Chinese version of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used in 138 CABG patients that were divided into 2 groups according the fact if depression was present. 1 week before and 1, 3, and 6 months after operation, and SF-36 scale was used to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) one week before operation and 1 and 6 months after operation. Depressive disorders occurred in 42.7% of the patients preoperatively and in 23.1% of the patients 6 months after the operation. There were no significant differences in all the dimensions of the SF-36 scale before operation between the depression and non-depression groups. All the scores of the 36-F dimensions were improved 1 and 6 months after the operation. However, the SF-36 social functioning (SF), mental health (MH), role emotional (RE), and bodily pain (BP) subscale scores 6 months after operation of the depression group were all lower than those in the non-depressive groups (all P < 0.05). Depression symptoms at different degrees exist before CABG and can be improved post-operatively. The improvement of QOL of the depressive patients after operation is not so marked compared to the non-depressive patients, especially in SF, MH, RE, and BP dimensions.