Cor Vasa 2016, 58(4):e384-e390 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2016.01.001

The impact of cardiac rehabilitation program on anxiety and depression levels after coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Leili Pourafkari^a,b, Samad Ghaffari^a, Arezou Tajlil^a, Jafar Shahamfar^c, Solmaz Hedayati^c, Nader D. Nader^b,*

^a Cardiovascular Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

^b University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States

^c Islamic Azad University, Faculty of Medicine Tabriz Branch, Tabriz, Iran

Purpose: To investigate the role of cardiac rehabilitation program in depression and anxiety levels after coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Depression and anxiety are associated with worse outcome after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Methods: We enrolled 40 consecutive patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery. They participated in an eight-week cardiac rehabilitation program (REH). Patients were personally interviewed for assessment of depression and anxiety. A research team member completed Beck's Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Beck's Anxiety Inventory (BAI) for all patients before and after the rehabilitation program.
BDI-II and BAI scores were recorded and the changes in the scores were compared using paired t-test.
P-values

Keywords: Anxiety; Coronary artery bypass grafting; Depression; Exercise; Rehabilitation

Received: July 25, 2015; Accepted: January 5, 2016; Published: August 1, 2016  Show citation