Implantable defibrillator recipients' responses to device implantation and design

The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is a surgically inserted device that follows a well-established pattern of technology innovation and rapid adoption without extensive clinical trials. Few devices are as obviously life-saving in potentially fatal situations and deliver such sudden and sometimes painful therapy. Although patients' quality of life and adjustment to the device both physically and psychologically are relatively well-documented, few studies have explored recipients' responses to the device itself or elicited their thoughts on the technological design. The findings presented here are from a prospective Australian study that surveyed 110 ICD recipients pre-insertion and at 3, 12, and 18 months post-insertion. Recipients' responses to the device and their thoughts on design were sought. Respondents were overwhelmingly willing to: 1) accept the ICD, 2) recommend it to others, and 3) welcome such innovations as warning tones, device-controlled drug delivery, and telephone interrogation of the device.