Problems Faced by Clients with Heart Valve Replacement in Se lected Cardiac Hospitals of Kathmandu

Abstract

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a major contributor for the heart valve damage that ultimately  requires prosthetic valve replacement surgery. The study entitled “problems faced by clients with heart  valve replacement in selected cardiac hospitals of Kathmandu” was done to find out the problems  faced by clients after heart valve replacement and its association with socio-demographic and disease  related variables. 

Descriptive, exploratory study was conducted among adult clients of two tertiary hospitals of  Kathmandu. One hundred and twelve clients were purposively selected and information on physical,  psychological, social and economical problems was collected using modified Short Form 36 (SF 36)  health survey questionnaire through interview method. Kruskal Wallis ‘H’ and Mann-Whitney ‘U’  test were used for identifying the association between research variables. 

Half of the respondents (50.9%) reported having fatigue and 32.1% experienced chest pain in a  mild form. Discomfort was the most common problem experienced by 37.5% in a moderate degree.  The clients with the less than 12 month duration of surgery had more physical problems. Nearly  half (46.4%) of them found to be sad, depressed and had lost interest most of the time. Also, 30.4%  were found to be worried and anxious about the future all the time. Regarding social problems,  nearly 39.3% had no interaction with the other people. 42.8% had not participating in social, religious  activities at all. 80.3% respondents answered decreased follow up frequency, 62.6% told family  disputes, 57.0 mentioned increased debts, and 47.7 told marital disharmony as chief problems due to  financial constraints. 

The study findings conclude that clients suffer from a variety of physical, psychological, social  and economic problems after heart valve replacement. For that reason, study indicate the need for  increasing Government’s fund for heart valve diseases, regular provision of educational sessions and  counseling services before surgery to all clients including their families about these problems so that  possible complications and sufferings could be reduced and prevented.