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MONDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDayNews) -- Women who have coronary bypass surgery report a better quality of life following the procedure, but are not nearly as satisfied as men who have similar surgery.
Women reported significantly higher levels of depression and anxiety a year after surgery than men did, even though both groups showed improvements in memory, verbal ability and concentration as well as quality of life, according to a Duke University Medical Center study.
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"This study prompts us to ask the question, 'Why are women not achieving the same benefits as men?,'" says lead author Barbara Phillips-Bute, an assistant research professor at Duke. "We need to find a way to come up with interventions that will help women achieve the same benefits as men."
Phillips-Bute says some of the reasons for the difference could be that women overall have less success with the surgery than men because their arteries are smaller and the vessels used in the bypass tend not to last as long. Another possibility is that their diminished post-surgical quality of life could be affected by environment or personality rather than solely by cardiac health.
Yet another factor could be cultural considerations, she adds.
Nearly half the women who had surgery lived alone, lowering the possibility of at-home help after their operation, while nearly 85 percent of the men were married, which could mean their wives were caring for them, she says. Also a consideration could be that a woman's traditional caretaking role might push her toward resuming tasks too early after surgery.
"Social support scores for men and women at this age show that women tend to be the caretakers, and perhaps these women, even when they are not feeling well, are expected to take over their caretaking roles after surgery," Phillips-Bute says.
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