Impending surgery: the expectations of male coronary patients and their wives.

Waiting to receive coronary graft surgery presents patients and their spouses with a stressful episode which nevertheless holds out the possibilities of symptom relief and improved quality of life. This study examines differences between couples in their experience of waiting, approach to surgery and expectations of treatment benefit. These differences, conceptualized in terms of a theory of adjustment to illness, are discussed in relation to their practical implications for helping patients and spouses to prepare for surgery and its possible outcomes.