Coping strategies for psychological pressure in patients after open-heart surgery

doi:10.3321/j.issn:1673-8225.2004.36.008

Abstract：BACKGROUND: During the first period of recovery after open-heart surgery, patients are usually faced with reality of stressful situation and have to bear the physical and psychological burden, whereas the efficacious coping strategies can relieve their stressful situation and facilitate their postoperative recovery.OBJECTIVE: To investigate and analyze the coping ways and strategies used by the patients undergoing open-heart surgery.DESIGN: An inventory study.SETTING: Department of Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University.PARTICIPANTS: Participants were recruited from the Department of Cardiac Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University during November 1999 to March 2000. Sixty-six patients, who underwent cardiac valve replacement, were taken as the subjecta on the second day after they turned to the general ward from intensive care unit. A total of 64 patients were voluntarily involved in this study, including 34 males and 30 females.INTERVENTIONS: Questionnaire inventory was applied to the 64 patients of open-heart surgery for the investigation and analysis of the coping strategies for their psychological pressure. The coping strategies for psychological pressure adopted by the patients were measured with the 4-point Likert scale.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Coping ways and coping strategies for patients after open-heart surgery.The using rate of"I refused to believe that I had received the surgery" in the "escape-avoidance" items was 2% ( 1/64).CONCLUSION: The coping strategy which is the most frequently used by the parents after open-heart surgery is"I did something according to the physician' s suggestions" in the"confrontive coping" way, while the most seldom used is"I refused to believe that I had received the surgery" in the "escape-avoidance".