Prediction of functional and psychological status after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

Objective: To examine symptom, functional status, and psychological status profiles after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and determine indicators of outcome. Design: Descriptive and correlational with repeated measures. Setting: Hospital or home (2.1 days before PTCA) and home (3.9 and 10.2 months after discharge). Measures: Self-administered questionnaires (developed for study) for functional status (personal and instrumental activities of daily living), and cardiac symptoms (chest pain and shortness of breath at rest and on exertion). General Health Questionnaire16 for psychological status. Patients: One hundred thirty with PTCA (mean age 57 years, 84% male, 15% with prior PTCA). Results: Chest pain and shortness of breath at rest and on exertion decreased and functional and psychological status improved 3.9 months after PTCA, with measures maintained at 10.2 months. At 3.9 months after PTCA, poorer psychological status was predicted by having had a longer duration of coronary artery disease before PTCA. Post-PTCA indicators of poor psychological status were continued chest pain and shortness of breath on exertion and not working. The presence of post-PTCA chest pain on exertion and not working were also correlated with reduced functional status. Conclusions: Although pre-PTCA variables such as duration of coronary artery disease can predict post-PTCA outcome, the use of variables measured after PTCA may also provide clinicians with accurate estimates of functional and psychological status after PTCA. (Heart Lung® 1999;28:276-83.)