Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Quality in Health Care : QHC logoLink to Quality in Health Care : QHC
. 1996 Sep;5(3):166–171. doi: 10.1136/qshc.5.3.166

Preliminary assessment of patients' opinions of queuing for coronary bypass graft surgery at one Canadian centre.

J F Petrie 1, J L Cox 1, R J Teskey 1, L B Campbell 1, D E Johnstone 1
PMCID: PMC1055401  PMID: 10161531

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To explore psychological and socioeconomic concerns of patients who queued for coronary artery bypass surgery and the effectiveness of support existing in one Canadian cardiovascular surgical center. DESIGN: Standardised questionnaire and structured interview. SETTING: Victoria General Hospital, Halifax, Nova Scotia. SUBJECTS: 100 consecutive patients awaiting non-emergency bypass surgery. RESULTS: Most patients (96%) found the explanation of findings at cardiac catheterisation and the justification given for surgery satisfactory. However, 84 patients complained that waiting for surgery was stressful and 64 registered at least moderate anxiety. Anger over delays was expressed by 16%, but only 4% thought that queuing according to medical need was unfair. Economic hardship, attributed to delayed surgery, was declared by 15 patients. This primarily affected those still working--namely, blue collar workers and younger age groups. Only 41% of patients were satisfied with existing institutional supports. Problems related mainly to poor communication. CONCLUSIONS: Considerable anxiety seems to be experienced by most patients awaiting bypass surgery. Better communication and education might alleviate some of this anxiety. Economic hardship affects certain patient subgroups more than others and may need to be weighed in the selection process. A more definitive examination of these issues is warranted.

Full text

PDF
166

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Carr-Hill R. A. The measurement of patient satisfaction. J Public Health Med. 1992 Sep;14(3):236–249. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Carrier M., Pineault R., Tremblay N., Pelletier L. C. Outcome of rationing access to open-heart surgery: effect of the wait for elective surgery on patient outcome. CMAJ. 1993 Oct 15;149(8):1117–1122. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Charles C., Gauld M., Chambers L., O'Brien B., Haynes R. B., Labelle R. How was your hospital stay? Patients' reports about their care in Canadian hospitals. CMAJ. 1994 Jun 1;150(11):1813–1822. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cox J. L., Petrie J. F., Pollak P. T., Johnstone D. E. Managed delay for coronary artery bypass graft surgery: the experience at one Canadian center. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1996 May;27(6):1365–1373. doi: 10.1016/0735-1097(96)00028-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cox J., Naylor C. D. The Canadian Cardiovascular Society grading scale for angina pectoris: is it time for refinements? Ann Intern Med. 1992 Oct 15;117(8):677–683. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-117-8-677. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Del Greco L., Walop W., McCarthy R. H. Questionnaire development: 2. Validity and reliability. CMAJ. 1987 Apr 1;136(7):699–700. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Del Greco L., Walop W. Questionnaire development: 1. Formulation. CMAJ. 1987 Mar 15;136(6):583–585. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Froberg D. G., Kane R. L. Methodology for measuring health-state preferences--I: Measurement strategies. J Clin Epidemiol. 1989;42(4):345–354. doi: 10.1016/0895-4356(89)90039-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Froberg D. G., Kane R. L. Methodology for measuring health-state preferences--II: Scaling methods. J Clin Epidemiol. 1989;42(5):459–471. doi: 10.1016/0895-4356(89)90136-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Higginson L. A., Cairns J. A., Keon W. J., Smith E. R. Rates of cardiac catheterization, coronary angioplasty and open-heart surgery in adults in Canada. CMAJ. 1992 Mar 15;146(6):921–925. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mulgan R., Logan R. L. The coronary bypass waiting list: a social evaluation. N Z Med J. 1990 Aug 8;103(895):371–372. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Naylor C. D. A different view of queues in Ontario. Health Aff (Millwood) 1991 Fall;10(3):110–128. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.10.3.110. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Naylor C. D., Baigrie R. S., Goldman B. S., Basinski A. Assessment of priority for coronary revascularisation procedures. Revascularisation Panel and Consensus Methods Group. Lancet. 1990 May 5;335(8697):1070–1073. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(90)92640-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Naylor C. D., Morgan C. D., Levinton C. M., Wheeler S., Hunter L., Klymciw K., Baigrie R. S., Goldman B. S. Waiting for coronary revascularization in Toronto: 2 years' experience with a regional referral office. CMAJ. 1993 Oct 1;149(7):955–962. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Naylor C. D. The Canadian health care system: a model for American to emulate? Health Econ. 1992 Apr;1(1):19–37. doi: 10.1002/hec.4730010106. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Pieper B., Lepczyk M., Caldwell M. Perceptions of the waiting period before coronary artery bypass grafting. Heart Lung. 1985 Jan;14(1):40–44. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ugnat A. M., Naylor C. D. Trends in coronary artery bypass grafting in Ontario from 1981 to 1989. CMAJ. 1993 Feb 15;148(4):569–575. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Quality in Health Care are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES