Pacemaker implications in the functional capacity and quality of life of cardiopathic patients

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are among the main causes of death, and in recent years there has been an increase in pacemaker implants (PM), which is intended not only to increase survival, but also to improve quality of life. Objective: To evaluate the quality of life, cardiorespiratory fitness and level of physical activity of patients before and after permanent PM implant in a large hospital in the north of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Method: The study comprised 19 patients submitted to PM surgery who had their electronic health record and quality of life (AQUAREL) evaluated as well as their cardiorespiratory fitness and the limit of daily physical activity (VSAQ), peripheral muscle strength (PMS), respiratory muscle strength (manovacuometry), their degree of dyspnea (modified PMS) and the hemodynamic parameters, all of which were assessed in the preoperative period and after 30 days. Results: A mean age of 71.79 years was observed and in 63.1% of the cases Total Atrioventricular Block was the pathology, while 89.5% of the participants presented systemic arterial hypertension and 31.6% also presented Diabetes Melittus. Statistically significant improvement was observed in all the values under evaluation, namely: dyspnea (p = 0.0001), peripheral muscle strength (p = 0.0001) and respiratory muscle strength (PIMAX p = 0.0001 and PEMAX p = 0.0001), Quality of Life (p = 0.0001) and Cardiorespiratory Fitness and level of physical activity (p = 0.0001). Conclusion: Improvement was verified in all parameters analyzed, thus suggesting that the PM positively influences the quality of life and the functionality of the patients.