Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty: clinical and quality of life outcomes one year later.

Background: The quality of life status of patients prior to and following percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) has not been comprehensively investigated. Aim: This study was carried out to determine the effect that PTCA has on patients' quality of life. Methods: Data on 209 patients were collected one day pre‐PTCA and at a mean of two and 11 months post‐PTCA. Data on symptomatic status, functional capacity, life satisfaction and psychological well‐being were analysed quantitatively. Clinical outcomes, patient perception of PTCA and employment status wee analysed by descriptive statistics. Results: Highly significant improvement in all quality of life measures was found at the early follow‐up (p < .001). This improvement was sustained at the late follow‐up. At the late follow‐up, 58% of patients felt that PTCA had been very beneficial to their health and well‐being, and 79% of workers had returned to work. PTCA was primarily successful in 91% of vessels dilated. There were no procedural‐related deaths, 12 patients (6%) developed acute occlusion and three patients (1.5%) experienced myocardial infarction (MI). A symptomatic restenosis rate of 16% was found, including 19 patients (9%) requiring repeat PTCA and 14 (7%) undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Conclusion: These findings suggest that, after PTCA, the majority of patients experienced improved quality of life which was sustained one year later

Clinical results and quality of life after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty: A preliminary report

To evaluate the effect of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) on quality of life, data on symptomatic status, functional capacity, life satisfaction, and psychological wellness were collected on 102 patients at 1 day pre‐PTCA and 2 months post‐PTCA, and on the first 50 of these patients at 10 months post‐PTCA. There were highly significant changes (

Self-regulation of Exercise Intensity in Cardiac Rehabilitation Participants

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine if Phase III‐IV cardiac rehabilitation participants could accurately self‐monitor exercise intensity through the use of the heart rate (HR) palpation technique and the rating of perceived exertion scale (RPE) during their typical exercise routine and to determine if participants were exercising within their prescribed target heart rate (THR) range.Methods One hundred and sixty‐one (119 men, 42 women) cardiac rehabilitation participants (age = 64.8 ± 9.2 years) each performed their usual exercise routine on aerobic equipment for 20 min, while wearing a HR monitor. At 10 and 15min of exercise, participants reported their 10‐s palpated HR and RPE rating.Results No significant differences were found between mean palpated HRmin10 (100.8 ±18.6 beats per minute (BPM) and mean actual HRmin10 (102.7 ± 17.1 BPM) or mean palpated HRmin15 (105.9 ±19.2 BPM) and mean actual HRmin15 (106.4 ± 18.4 BPM). The correlations between actual HR and palpated HR at 10 and 15 min of exercise was 0.73 (p \u3c 0.0001, (Standard error of the estimate) SEE = 11.7 BPM) and 0.83 (p \u3c 0.0001, SEE = 10.3 BPM), respectively. When actual HR was compared with THR, 16 participants exceeded their prescribed THR (11–20 BPM), 82 participants fell below their THR (15–26 BPM), and 25 participants exercised within their THR, even though all reported a similar RPE (11–12).Conclusions The results of this study suggest that Phase III‐IV cardiac rehabilitation participants can accurately palpate their exercise pulse rates but their RPE did not appropriately reflect the intensity of their physical effort. Additionally, the majority of participants did not exercise within their prescribed THR range