Women's patterns of activity over 6 months after coronary artery bypass surgery

To examine the relationships between objectively measured activity patterns over 6 months after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS) and their relationship to self-reported functional recovery at 6 weeks and 6 months after CABS.

Time series, descriptive-correlational, convenience sample.

Hospital and home environment.

Thirteen women who had undergone CABS. The mean age was 62 years (SD 10.76, range, 43 to 78). The mean preoperative New York Heart Association Functional Classification was 2.08 (SD 1.26, range, 1 to 4).

Wrist-worn accelerometers and the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP).

Women wore the accelerometers for 4 week-long intervals: the first postoperative week (T1), the first week after hospitalization (T2), the sixth postoperative week (T3), and the first week of the sixth postoperative month (T4). The SIP was administered at the end of each week of data collection.

Circadian rhythms and linear trends in activity were examined with spectral, cosinor, and least squares regression analyses. Repeated measures ANOVA over T1 through T4 demonstrated statistically significant increases in the strength of the circadian rhythms and means levels of activity over T1 to T4. There were no statistically significant relationships between activity parameters at T1, T3, or T4 and SIP scores at T3 or T4.

This study is the first to report changes in circadian rhythms and levels of objectively measured activity over 6 months after CABS. The findings suggest that women's levels of activity and the strength of the circadian rhythm of activity increase between the early postoperative period and the sixth postoperative month. More research is needed to further explore the trajectory of activity patterns after CABS, their relationships to recovery and to determine the need for and effectiveness of interventions designed to promote recovery through activity patterning.