Body image changes associated with dual-chamber pacemaker insertion in women

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Leslie L Davis, Associate Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: Purpose: The study’s purpose was to examine body image changes in subjects participating in a long-term multicenter pacemaker trial.

Methods: At study closeout, 383 adults, all of whom had received a dual-chamber pacemaker, completed questionnaires evaluating what effect their pacemaker or pacemaker site and scar had on them or their spouses or significant others.

Results: Most reported that their pacemaker did not change the way they or their spouses or significant others felt about their body (73.2% and 93.5%, respectively). Most (87.1%) denied feeling differently because of the pacemaker site and scar. Most were not concerned how their clothes fit or about wearing a swimsuit (92.0% and 90.7%, respectively). Women were more concerned about how the pacemaker site and scar made them feel about their body (P = .001), clothes fitting (P = .002), and wearing a swimsuit (P = .004). Men were more concerned with how their spouses or significant others perceived them postimplantation (P = .021).

Conclusions: Most subjects did not express undue concern about changes in body image.

Additional Information

Publication
Heart and Lung
Language: English
Date: 2004
Keywords
women, pacemaker implantation, body image

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