Selected Factors Associated with Health Related Quality of Life in Aortic Aneurysm Patients after Surgery

Abstract

The purposes of this correlational research were to examine the health related quality of life in patients with aortic aneurysm after surgery and to investigate the relationships of social support, age, duration after surgery, types of aneurysm and surgery, illness representations, adherence to health behavior advised by the health care teams, and self-efficacy toward health behavioral practice, and health related quality of life in patients with aortic aneurysm after surgery. One hundred and forty-three post-operative patients with various types of aortic aneurysm surgery from 1 month to 1 year were recruited from tertiary care hospitals, all the countries. Questionnaires composed of demographic information, social support, illness representations, adherence to health behavioral practice, self-efficacy to health behavioral practice, and health related quality of life. All questionnaires were tested for content validities by five panel of experts, and the reliability were .79, .78, .70, .71, .75, and .71, respectively. Descriptive, point biserial correlation coefficients and pearson’ s product moment correlation coefficients analyses were used to analyze data. The results showed as the followings:

The score of health related quality of life of patients with aortic aneurysm after surgery was good. (M= 62.09, SD = 18.30). The score of social support was at a high level (M= 47.62, SD = 4.01). In terms of symptoms of illness representations, the sample patients reported two symptoms at most. They reported the cause of aortic aneurysm came from patient behavioral practice at most (M= 3.73, SD = 0.84). In term of timeline, consequences, and curing/symptom controllability perception, the sample patients have represented accordingly and correctly. The score of adherence to health behavioral practice was at a high level (M= 10.88, SD = 1.01) and self-efficacy to health behavioral practice was at a medium level (M= 27.23, SD = 4.17).  In addiction, age and perceiving symptoms and cause were negatively related to health related quality of life. Social support, illness representation of treatment or disease control, and self-efficacy in health behavioral practice were positively related to health related quality of life in patients with aortic aneurysm after surgery at the level of .05.

The findings can be used to develop the promoting health related quality of life program for aortic aneurysm patients with social support participation as well as promoting self-efficiency to health behavior for improved health related quality of life.