ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to report results from a qualitative field study of 15 women with heart disease. The study was conducted over a two-year period in a number of clinical settings to document women's subjective experiences after angioplasty or cardiac surgery. The phenomena of interest were participants' perceptions of their health, the impact cardiac illness was having on their lives, lifestyle changes they had engaged in since diagnosis, and how they felt about having heart disease. Qualitative content analysis was applied to field notes and in-depth interviews. The overall sense of living with heart disease for these midlife women was one of paradox. Implications of their contradictory experiences are discussed as they apply to nursing practice.
Subject(s)
Heart Diseases/rehabilitation , Women's Health , Adaptation, Psychological , Aged , Female , Heart Diseases/psychology , Heart Diseases/surgery , Humans , Interpersonal Relations , Life Style , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Anxiety and role experiences in women may be related to age, developmental changes, social roles, and life circumstances such as cardiac disease. One hundred fifty-five women participated in a cross sectional survey on anxiety and role experiences in early middle-age, midlife, and elderly women after heart surgery. MANOVA analysis revealed significant differences for anxiety and role experiences by age. Compared with older women, early middle-age women had lower balance between role rewards and concerns and a poorer match between ideal and actual role function, which may be a contributing factor for their increased anxiety.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Anxiety/etiology , Anxiety/psychology , Heart Diseases/psychology , Role , Social Behavior , Women's Health , Women/psychology , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Anxiety/diagnosis , Anxiety/nursing , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Heart Diseases/complications , Heart Diseases/surgery , Humans , Middle Aged , Multivariate Analysis , Nursing Methodology Research , RewardABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to describe the influence of physical health on social role perceptions, role performance, and role balance in women after heart surgery and coronary angioplasty. DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive survey was used. SETTING: The study was undertaken at a Midwestern community hospital. SAMPLE: The study considered 58 midlife and older women who had received heart surgery or coronary angioplasty. OUTCOME MEASURES: The following measures were used: Inventory of Adult Role Behavior, Role Discrepancy Measure, Role Balance Measure, and Salient Social Roles Measure. RESULTS: Women in poorer health had lower role performance and more negative role perceptions. In general, the balance of rewards and concerns in roles rated most important were not affected by health status. CONCLUSION: Dimensions of women's social roles are related to physical health after heart surgery and angioplasty. Knowledge about the effect of physical health on women's social role experiences is important information for clinicians who care for women with heart disease. If a woman can be helped to achieve better functional health to perform role and daily living tasks, she may feel more positive about her current and future health states.
