Effect of Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery on Patients' Quality of Life

Background: Off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) surgery is a common technique used to control the incidence of myocardial ischemia and to increase the lifespan of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). There is still considerable controversy about effect of OPCAB on patients' quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of OPCAB on different aspects of the patients' quality of life. Methods: A total of 190 patients who underwent elective OPCAB surgery at Afshar Hospital in Yazd, Iran, from October 2012 through April 2013 participated in the study. Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) questionnaire was used in structured interviews before and 3 months after the OPCAB surgery. Independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney test and analysis of variance were used for statistical analysis. Results: Quality of life from the aspect of pain (P = 0.014), energy (P = 0.001), emotional reaction (P < 0.001), social isolation (P = 0.002) and physical activity (P = 0.005) were significantly different, but there was no significant difference in sleep between men and women (P = 0.06). Women achieved a better quality of life 3 months after OPCAB surgery (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in patients' quality of life in terms of their ejection fraction (P = 0.06). There was no significant difference in patients' quality of life in terms of their New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class score (P = 0.57). Patients' quality of life scores before OPCAB surgery and 3 months after the surgery showed no significant difference after adjusting for history of myocardial infarction (P = 0.82), hyperlipoproteinemia (P = 0.38), cigarette addiction (P = 0.2), hypertension (P = 0.7) and diabetes mellitus (P = 0.15). Conclusion: Most aspects of patients' quality of life were better after OPCAB surgery. The most obvious finding to emerge from this study was that women's quality of life was better than men's after OPCAB surgery. Since CAD is prevalent and OPCAB is one way to treat and manage this disease, patients' quality of life can be improved if they are managed appropriately after OPCAB surgery (especially for men).