Background: Advances in medical care and improvements in catheter-based interventions for coronary artery disease have advanced the age at which patients present for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) operations. The impact of age on functional outcome after CABG is unclear.
Methods: Functional outcome was assessed at baseline and at 6 months using the Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) in 337 consecutive patients undergoing primary or redo CABG. Complete functional outcome data were available in 292 patients (86%).
Results: The mean baseline DASI score was significantly lower in patients > or = 70 years of age (24.8 +/- 14.5 vs 30.9 +/- 17.8, P =.002) and at 6 months (29.6 +/- 16.5 vs 38.0 +/- 17.1, P =.0001); however, the 6-month change in DASI score (7.2 +/- 17.5 in patients < 70 years of age vs 4.9 +/- 14.0 in patients > or = 70 years of age, P =.23) was comparable. When examined in terciles of age, the 6-month change in DASI score was not significantly different (P =.11) in patients aged 31 to 60 years (5.8 +/- 18.0), aged 61 to 71 years (8.7 +/- 15.7), or aged 72 to 91 years (4.0 +/- 14.6).
Conclusions: These functional outcome results demonstrate that older patients present for CABG at a significantly lower functional level and remain at a significantly lower functional level 6 months after CABG. However, the functional improvement after CABG is not significantly different across age groups.