OBJECTIVE: To examine symptom frequency and distress in heart transplant candidates. DESIGN: Prospective, two-site study with a correlational design. SETTING: Large Midwestern and large Southern medical center. SAMPLE: Convenience sample of 175 adult patients (mean age 52 years, 85% men) awaiting heart transplantation. Fifty percent of the patients had ischemic cardiomyopathy and 47% had dilated cardiomyopathy. INSTRUMENTS: The Heart Transplant Symptom Checklist (Grady, Jalowiec, & Grusk, 1988), a 92-item self-administered instrument that measures how much patients are bothered by symptoms on a four-point rating scale, was developed by the research team for the study. Cronbach alpha reliability for the total scale was 0.95. RESULTS: The most frequent and distressing symptoms for patients awaiting heart transplantation were tiredness, difficulty breathing when walking or doing something, difficulty sleeping, and weakness in the whole body. Patients who had more symptom distress were unable to work. Higher symptom distress correlated significantly with higher stress, less life satisfaction, lower quality of life, and more functional disability. SUMMARY: Heart transplant candidates experience symptoms that may affect their ability to work and are associated with more functional disability and lower quality of life. IMPLICATIONS: Identification of the most frequent and distressing symptoms helps nurses and other health care providers to better assess and intervene with patients who are heart transplant candidates.
OBJECTIVE: To examine symptom frequency and distress in heart transplant candidates. DESIGN: Prospective, two-site study with a correlational design. SETTING: Large Midwestern and large Southern medical center. SAMPLE: Convenience sample of 175 adult patients (mean age 52 years, 85% men) awaiting heart transplantation. Fifty percent of the patients had ischemic cardiomyopathy and 47% had dilated cardiomyopathy. INSTRUMENTS: The Heart Transplant Symptom Checklist (Grady, Jalowiec, & Grusk, 1988), a 92-item self-administered instrument that measures how much patients are bothered by symptoms on a four-point rating scale, was developed by the research team for the study. Cronbach alpha reliability for the total scale was 0.95. RESULTS: The most frequent and distressing symptoms for patients awaiting heart transplantation were tiredness, difficulty breathing when walking or doing something, difficulty sleeping, and weakness in the whole body. Patients who had more symptom distress were unable to work. Higher symptom distress correlated significantly with higher stress, less life satisfaction, lower quality of life, and more functional disability. SUMMARY: Heart transplant candidates experience symptoms that may affect their ability to work and are associated with more functional disability and lower quality of life. IMPLICATIONS: Identification of the most frequent and distressing symptoms helps nurses and other health care providers to better assess and intervene with patients who are heart transplant candidates.
Authors: Lynda H Powell; James E Calvin; Carlos F Mendes de Leon; Dejuran Richardson; Kathleen L Grady; Kristin J Flynn; Cheryl S Rucker-Whitaker; Imke Janssen; Glenda Kravitz; Claudia Eaton Journal: Am Heart J Date: 2008-09 Impact factor: 4.749
Authors: Kathleen L Grady; David C Naftel; James B Young; Dave Pelegrin; Jennifer Czerr; Robert Higgins; Alain Heroux; Bruce Rybarczyk; Mary McLeod; Jon Kobashigawa; Julie Chait; Connie White-Williams; Susan Myers; James K Kirklin Journal: J Heart Lung Transplant Date: 2007-09-27 Impact factor: 10.247
Authors: Kathleen L Grady; Edward Wang; Robert Higgins; Alain Heroux; Bruce Rybarczyk; James B Young; Dave Pelegrin; Jennifer Czerr; Jon Kobashigawa; Julie Chait; David C Naftel; Connie White Williams; Susan Myers; James K Kirklin Journal: J Heart Lung Transplant Date: 2009-06-28 Impact factor: 10.247
Authors: Dorothy M Lanuza; Cheryl A Lefaiver; Roger Brown; Rebecca Muehrer; Margaret Murray; Maria Yelle; Sangeeta Bhorade Journal: Clin Transplant Date: 2012-09-18 Impact factor: 2.863