Preoperative sleep complaints are associated with poor physical recovery in the months following cardiac surgery

Abstract

Background: Sleep disturbance is associated with poorer outcomes in cardiac patients, but little is known about the independent role of sleep quality in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients. Purpose: This study aims to examine the relationship between preoperative sleep complaints and post-operative emotional and physical recovery in CABG surgery patients, independently of demographic, clinical and mood factors. Methods: Two hundred thirty CABG patients (aged 67.81± 9.07 years) completed measures of self-reported sleep complaints before surgery and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), physical symptoms and pain 2 months after surgery. Results: Greater sleep complaints prior to surgery were associated with greater physical symptoms, poorer physical HRQoL and greater sensory pain after surgery (p <0.05), but not with affective pain or mental HRQoL. Preoperative mood was not able to explain these associations. Conclusions: Sleep complaints may be implicated in physical recovery from CABG surgery but further work is needed to understand the role of causal pathways. © The Society of Behavioral Medicine 2013.