Travel of U.S. Citizens after Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

Background: International travel with concurrent medical problems is commonplace. This study was undertaken to determine travel morbidity rates in coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS) patients. Methods: A survey of 10,096 CABS patients indicated that 40% (n=4286) of them reported travel during the study year of 1988. The patients who reported traveling and those patients who did not travel were stratified by gender and by age (30 to 54, 55 to 64, and 65 to 80 years). Results: The male patients who traveled reported a 6.1% incidence of chest pain during travel. The comparable female patients reported an 8.7% incidence of chest pain (p <.05). Hospitalization and myocardial infarction rates of patients during travel were low (0.6% and 0.2%, respectively). In the older age groups (55 to 64 years and 65 to 80 years), males who traveled were less likely to report angina than the male patients who did not travel (p <.05). Conclusions: A history of CABS and the stress of travel do not appear to be associated with "high" hospitalization rates or special medical problems.