The role of sex in health-related quality of life after cardiac surgery: A prospective study.

Gjeilo et al.
European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation

Special Introduction by the Authors
Women undergoing cardiac surgery are older, have more comorbidities and are more functionally impaired than men before surgery. It has been argued that sex differences regarding outcome tend to reflect differences that exist preoperatively rather than differences related to cardiac surgery itself. The literature is not consistent regarding sex differences in Health-related Quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes after cardiac surgery.

We designed a prospective study to assess HRQOL after cardiac surgery with emphasis on sex differences. Five hundred and thirty-four patients were consecutively included before surgery with follow-up at 6 and 12 months. The study demonstrates that there are sex differences concerning HRQOL, with female patients scoring less favorable than male patients both before and after surgery. Repeated measures revealed that both male and female patients improved substantially after surgery and had almost the same pattern of recovery; a distinct increase between baseline and 6 months, stabilizing between 6 and 12 months. This illustrates the importance of studying sex differences prospectively and avoiding cross-sectional studies.


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