Summary

Abstract

The number of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgeries in industrialized countries has steadily increased over the past two decades. Roughly one third of these operations are performed on women. The majority of studies on CABG operations have reported that the early mortality rate of women is roughly twice as high as that of men. A similar difference has been found with respect to the subjective health status. Studies conducted in search of an explanation of these marked gender differences have yielded conflicting results. Generally, adjustment for clinical risk factors diminished the gender gap, but did not fully explain it. So far, only few studies have paid attention to psychosocial factors. In particular, an analysis of a possible predictive relationship between depression and “physical functioning” (an indicator for the subjective health status) is missing. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of psychosocial variables in the recovery process and to examine whether gender differences in these variables, particularly in depression, explain gender differences in 1-year mortality and physical functioning. Hence, clinical variables were taken into account to adequately evaluate the contribution of psychosocial variables. Since quality of life has gained increasing importance as a patient-reported outcome parameter over recent years, the primary outcome variables were extended beyond mortality to physical functioning.