Background: Acute Type A aortic dissection can be physically and mentally stressful with little known about survivors' postrepair activity levels, exercise habits, and quality of life (QOL). This study was aimed to describe pre- and postdissection changes regarding exercise, understand physician recommendations, quantify use of cardiac rehabilitation, and assess QOL in dissection survivors.
Methods: A total of 295 acute Type A aortic dissection survivors were surveyed about exercise, cardiac rehabilitation, QOL, sexual activity, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with 137 (46%) respondents.
Results: Respondents were less likely to participate in competitive athletics after than before dissection (1/131 [0.76%] vs. 26/131 [20%], p [McNemar test] < 0.0001) or lift heavy objects (11/111 [9.9%] vs. 41/111 [37%], p < 0.0001). Forty-eight of 132 respondents (36%) did not participate in cardiac rehabilitation. Compared with general population norms, respondents reported lower median QOL physical component scores (40 [26, 51; 15th, 85th percentile], p < 0.0001); these were lower in respondents who did not exercise (Hodges-Lehmann [HL; 95% confidence interval (CI)]: -6.8 [-11, -2.4], p = 0.002), limited sexual activity (-8.0 [-13, -4.3], p = 0.0002), or screened positive for PTSD (-10 [-14, -5.3], p = 0.0002). Median mental component scores were similar to general population norms (HL [95% CI]: 55 [34, 61], p = 0.24) but were lower among respondents who did not exercise (-4.2 [-7.8, -1.0], p = 0.01), limited sexual activity (-5.5 [-10, -1.8], p = 0.003), or screened positive for PTSD (-16 [-22, -10], p < 0.0001).
Conclusion: Physicians should prescribe cardiac rehabilitation, encourage appropriate exercise, promote resumption of sexual activity, and identify and treat PTSD after surgery for acute Type A aortic dissection.
The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).