Abstract
Background Despite known gender differences in recovery, few studies have examined symptom management (SM) interventions or responses by gender after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS). Objective The purpose of this subanalysis was to describe and evaluate differences in response by gender to an SM intervention on the presence and burden of symptoms, physical activity, and physical functioning in elderly CABS patients during the early discharge period (3 and 6 weeks after CABS, and 3 and 6 months after CABS). Methods The parent study whose data were analyzed to examine gender differences involved a two-group, randomized clinical trial design. The 6-week early recovery SM telehealth intervention was delivered by the Health Buddy. Measures included the Cardiac Symptom Survey, a Modified 7-Day Activity Interview, an RT3 accelerometer, an Activity Diary, and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36. This study was not powered for a gender × group analysis, and we used descriptive statistics, χ 2 tests, t tests, and analysis of variance for statistical analyses. Results Subjects (n = 232) included 192 men and 40 women, with a mean age of 71.2 SD, 7 years. The intervention group consisted of 86 men and 23 women, and the usual care (UC) group consisted of 106 men and 17 women. Data trends suggest that the SM intervention exerted greater impact on women than on men for symptoms such as fatigue, depression, sleep problems, and pain. Again, men exhibited higher levels of physical activity than did women. However, women in the SM group generally had higher scores than did women in the UC group. Conclusion Although the parent study found no effect of an early recovery SM intervention, this exploratory secondary analysis indicated that women in the intervention group demonstrated more improvement in measures of physical activity than did those in the UC group. Further study, using a larger sample, is necessary to test these preliminary results.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Heart & Lung - The Journal of Acute and Critical Care
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
