Gender and functional outcome after coronary artery bypass

Background, Female gender is an established risk factor for increased morta lity and morbidity after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Howev er the impact of gender on functional outcome after CABG is not well establ ished. Methods. Functional status was assessed at baseline and at 6 months with th e Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) in 196 consecutive patients undergoing isolated primary CABG. Follow-up data were complete in 158 (81 %) patients. The functional status of the 54 (34%)female and the 104 (66%) male patient s was compared. Results, The mean DASI score was significantly lower in women at baseline ( 19.3 +/- 13.8 vs 28.3 +/- 16.8, P = .001) and at 6 months (22.7 +/- 16.3 vs 32.8 +/- 18.2, P = .0007); however the 6-month change in DASI score (3.3 /- 16.9 vs 4.5 +/- 20.0, P = .7) was comparable. A similar proportion of wo men and men (54 % vs 53 %) had improved above their baseline functional lev el at 6 months. Conclusions, These data demonstrate that women undergo CABG at a significan tly lower functional level than melt; however the functional improvement af ter CABG is similar across genders.