WOMENS PATTERNS OF ACTIVITY OVER 6 MONTHS AFTER CORONARY-ARTERY BYPASS-SURGERY

Objective: To examine the relationships between objectively measured a ctivity patterns over 6 months after coronary artery bypass surgery (C ABS) and their relationship to self-reported functional recovery at 6 weeks and 6 months after CABS. Design: Time series, descriptive-correl ational, convenience sample. Setting: Hospital and home environment. P atients: Thirteen women who had undergone CABS. The mean age was 62 ye ars (SD 10.76, range, 43 to 78). The mean preoperative New York Heart Association Functional Classification was 2.08 (SD 1.26, range, 1 to 4 ). Measures: Wrist-worn accelerometers and the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). Intervention: Women wore the accelerometers for 4 week-long in tervals: the first postoperative week (T1), the first week after hospi talization (T2), the sixth postoperative week (T3), and the first week of the sixth postoperative month (T4), The SIP was administered at th e end of each week of data collection. Results: Circadian rhythms and linear trends in activity were examined with spectral, cosinor, and le ast squares regression analyses, Repeated measures ANOVA over T1 throu gh T4 demonstrated statistically significant increases in the strength of the circadian rhythms and mean levels of activity over T1 to T4. T here were no statistically significant relationships between activity parameters at T1, T3, or T4 and SIP scores at T3 or T4. Conclusions: T his study is the first to report changes in circadian rhythms and leve ls of objectively measured activity over 6 months after CABS. The find ings suggest that women's levels of activity and the strength of the c ircadian rhythm of activity increase between the early postoperative p eriod and the sixth postoperative month, More research is needed to fu rther explore the trajectory of activity patterns after CABS, their re lationships to recovery and to determine the need for and effectivenes s of interventions designed to promote recovery through activity patte rning.