Lifestyle and quality of life in long-term cardiac transplant recipients

Abstract

Background: The purposes of this study were to describe long-term (>1 year) cardiac transplant recipients’ perceptions of barriers to health-promoting behaviors; ability to manage their health, health-promoting lifestyle, health status and quality of life (QOL); and determine predictors of QOL. Methods: Data were collected from 93 recipients who completed a self-report questionnaire incorporating: (1) patient characteristics; (2) barriers to health promotion, perceived health competence and health-promoting lifestyle; (3) perceived health status; and (4) QOL. All instruments used had acceptable reliability and validity. Objective measures of health status were retrieved from medical records. Data were analyzed using descriptive and comparative statistics, measures of association and multiple regression. Results: Recipients were uncertain about their ability to manage their health; felt that barriers sometimes interfered with engaging in health-promoting behaviors; and often included health-promoting behaviors in their lifestyle. They rated their health as good and were moderately satisfied with life. Predictors of better perceptions of QOL included less education, longer time since transplant, ischemic etiology of heart failure, fewer barriers, higher perceived health competence and a health-promoting lifestyle ( R 2 = 0.51; F = 14.77; p = 0.001). Conclusions: The present results provide information regarding factors that contribute to perceptions of quality of life after cardiac transplantation, have implications for identifying patients at risk for poor QOL, and sensitize clinicians to the need for ongoing patient education.