Psychiatric aspects of coronary artery surgery. A prospective study

A psychiatric assessment was carried out before operation, and at three months and 12 months after operation, in 77 men undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Neither psychiatric assessment before the operation nor perioperative surgical assessment could predict the physical outcome of surgery. The physical results of surgery were good, but there was a 20% decrease in the number of patients who were in employment after the operation. Abnormally high scores on measures of anxiety and depression were present in about 50% of patients before the operation, and in about one-third of patients after the operation. Impairment in various aspects of personality-functioning since surgery was reported by 7%-29% of patients. These complaints were not correlated with the surgical result. Attention is drawn to this area of persisting postoperative morbidity.