Post-operative depression and coronary bypass surgery.

Unlabelled: Factors pertaining to post-surgical rehabilitation were investigated. These included personality, mental, and pain issues. The investigation covered the first year of bypass operations.

Subjects: 60 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABE) operations.

Instruments: a questionnaire, a personality inventory (MMPI), and a test of mental status (Raven's). The questionnaire was first administered a few days before and then after surgery and then repeated at intervals of 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery.

Results: 76% were within normal limits on the Raven while 54% of those tested had significant depression. Both the depressed patients' dates of surgery and their ages were evenly distributed, and no significant differences were found between these and those not tested. Other MMPI results were that 36% scored above normal on the hysteria scale, 27% were quite anxious, and 24% were above average on the schizophrenia scale. The answers to the questionnaire items were relatively stable. In a comparison of the answers of the depressed versus the non-depressed, no significant differences were found. The reason for the depression is not apparent, but it is not considered to be the result of medication or of a greater severity of pain. The depression was not found to have affected the rehabilitation progress.