Changes in activities performed in leisure time after open heart surgery.

To assess any changes made in the leisure activities performed after open heart surgery, 94 patients (48 with aortocoronary bypass operation, 46 with valve replacements) were asked exactly one year postoperatively whether activities, collected in a list of 21 items, had increased, decreased or remained equal since their operation. In spite of the fact that most leisure activities seemed to have remained unchanged, after operation patients seem to undertake activities quite contrary to their motivations for undergoing surgery in the first place: active participation (such as involvement in some kind of sport, going out to cinema, theatre, restaurants,...) decreases, whereas passive activities (such as watching sports on television, listening to music,...) increases significantly. Although 90% of the patients stated their physical, and 67% their emotional status, as being clearly improved compared to preoperative values, the experience of body limitations as well as of fear and anxiety seems to be so durable that the patients, now in good condition, become passive onlookers and cease to participate in social life.