Acceptance of elective bradypacing by patients: an African perspective

In our practice, we noticed that patients respond differently when pacemaker insertion is recommended to them. We then saw the need to study how African patients accept elective pacemaker implantation.

The study was conducted to determine African patients' responses to elective pacemaker insertion.

We recruited patients who reported at our outpatient clinic with indications for elective pacemaker insertion. The study period lasted 64 months from September 1999. The patients were counseled before insertion and we sought their consent before being recruited for the study. Five possible responses were used to grade acceptance. They were followed up for 12 months each. Patients who were brought in emergency and those who refused participation were excluded. Those who missed follow-up were also dropped.

Ninety-two patients (n = 92) met our study criteria after dropping eight patients who missed follow-up clinic attendance. Most of the candidates (71.7%) felt they had no options but to accept pacemakers at the time of operation. The remaining candidates either accepted the procedure with hope or wholeheartedly. Most of the candidates migrated up the ladder of acceptance over the 12-month period.

We concluded that most patients would accept pacemakers wholeheartedly over time.