Impact of a history of diabetes on the improvement of symptoms and qualityof life during 5 years after coronary artery bypass grafting

To describe the impact of a history of diabetes mellitus on the improvement of symptoms and various aspects of quality of life (QoL) during 5 years af ter coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Patients who underwent CABG bet ween 1988 and 1991 in western Sweden were approached with an inquiry prior to surgery and 5 years after the operation. QoL was estimated with three di fferent instruments: Physical Activity Score (PAS), Nottingham Health Profi le (NHP) and Psychological General Well-Being (PGWB) index. 876 patients pa rticipated in the evaluation, of whom 87 (10%) had a history of diabetes. S ymptoms of dyspnea and chest pain improved both in diabetic and non-diabeti c patients. Diabetic patients scored worse than non-diabetic patients both prior to and 5 years after CABG, but without ally major difference in impro vement;between the two groups with all three measures of QoL. PAS tended to improve mole in non-diabetic than in diabetic patients, whereas improvemen t in NHP and PGWB was similar regardless of a history of diabetes. Diabetic patients differ from non-diabetic patients having an inferior QoL both pri or to and 5 years after CABG. Both diabetic and non-diabetic patients impro ve in symptoms and QoL after the operation. In some aspects improvement ten ded to be less marked in the diabetic patients but on the whole improvement was similar compared to nan-diabetic patients. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science I nc. All rights reserved.