Effect of physiotherapy on quality of life after coronary artery bypass graft surgery: A randomized study

BACKGROUND: This study aims to assess the impact that physiotherapy (PT) has on the quality of life (QoL) of patients who have undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of PT on physical and mental aspects of patients’ QoL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 50 patients who aged between 60 and 70 years and who had previously undergone CABG surgery. The patients were randomly allocated to two groups: a PT group (n = 25) and a control group (n = 25). The physical characteristics of the participants were recorded at the outset of the study. The patients who were allocated to the PT group completed 16 sessions of classic PT. QoL assessments of all participants were performed before and after the program in the form of a short form-36 health survey. An independent sample t-test and an ANCOVA were performed for the purpose of statistical analyses. RESULTS: The QoL scores of the patients (mean age = 62.08 years) who underwent PT significantly improved after the intervention (P < 0.001). A significant difference between groups was observed (P < 0.001) in both the mental component summary and physical component summary variables. CONCLUSION: PT can help relieve pain, reduce depression, help patients more effectively perform the tasks of everyday living, and help ease the symptoms of other disabilities associated with cardiac surgery. In the current study, the implementation of a PT program improved the patient's mental health and increased their QoL.