| Recovery from coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is associated with adverse physical and psychological functioning. However, recovery symptoms and related physical and psychological functioning during early recovery after CABG surgery have never been assessed in Thailand. The purpose of this cross-sectional descriptive correlational study was to evaluate recovery symptoms and their relationship to functional outcomes (physical and psychological functioning) in Thai CABG patients during the first two weeks after discharge.;A convenience sample of 91 consecutive patients (63 men, 28 women) were interviewed face to face at cardiac follow-up clinics in five hospitals in Thailand during the first two weeks after discharge. The frequency of recovery symptoms was assessed using the Symptom Inventory (Artinian, 1993). Physical functioning was measured using three subscales (body care and movement, mobility, and ambulation) and the overall total physical scale of the Sickness Impact Profile (Bergner et al., 1981). Psychological functioning was measured using the Profile of Mood States (McNair et al., 1981). The relationships among age, co-morbidity (measured by the Charlson's Co-morbidity Index), the pre-surgical cardiac functional status (measured by the New York Heart Association classification), and recovery symptoms and functional outcomes were assessed.;Results revealed that the most common recovery symptoms (similar to studies on American patients) were chest and leg incision pain; having trouble sleeping; neck and shoulder or back discomfort, and tiredness. Pearson's product moment correlation indicated that the frequency of recovery was positively associated with physical functioning and psychological functioning. Physical functioning was positively associated with psychological functioning. Co-morbidity was positively associated with depression, confusion, and the total psychological functioning score. Pre-surgical cardiac functional status was positively associated with the frequency of recovery symptoms, and positively with depression. However, physical functioning, anxiety, and anger were not associated with co-morbidity or pre-surgical cardiac functional status.;Age was not associated with the frequency of recovery symptoms or functional outcomes. Women reported higher scores on all outcome variables than men. There were no significant differences between men and women in the frequency of recovery symptoms or psychological functioning.;These findings indicate that recovery symptoms related to functional outcomes in Thai CABG patients is consistent with American CABG patients. Interventions to improve functional outcomes in Thai CABG patients should take into account not only recovery symptom management, but also their co-morbidity, pre-surgical cardiac functional status, and gender. |
