Assess the Acceptance and Quality of Life of Patients with Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) in Selected Opd's of a Tertiary Care Hospital, Kochi

A descriptive study was conducted to assess the acceptance of patients to Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), determine the quality of life of patients with ICD and find out the association between selected demographic variables. Quality-of-life outcomes with the ICD may be directly related to coping successfully with ICD shocks. Little is known about the acceptance and the quality of life of patients with ICD. This study was conducted among 40 subjects, selected using non-probability convenient sampling technique and data were collected using questionnaires including the Florida Patient Acceptance Survey (FPAS) and SF-36 as a measure of quality of life (QOL). Overall patient acceptance of the ICD was moderate, with FPAS acceptance score of 51.9 ± 10.8 on the 0-to-100 point scale. The FPAS subscale mean scores indicated that the group was very positive (83.4) about the benefits of having the device and had few body image concerns (13.7), moderate device-related distress (41.1), and moderate return to function scores (53.1). The mean SF-36 v2 indicated worst quality of life (QOL) scores in the physical component (PCS) (44.2 ± 8.8), and worst QOL scores in the mental component (MCS) (47.3 ± 14.2). Better QOL was observed in vitality of mental component with mean score 50.6. Whereas worst QOL was observed in all the physical domains which includes physical functioning, role functioning, bodily pain and general health with mean score of 42.3, 43.5, 45.6 and 46.2 respectively. In the mental domains worst QOL was observed in social functioning, role emotional and mental health with mean score of 45.8, 40.8 and 48.5. Demographic data show that majority 30 (75%) of subjects were above 60 years and 36 (90%) were males. There were no significant association exist between demographic variables and mental and physical components of quality of life scores. The study concluded that majority of the subjects had moderate to high device acceptance and quality of life of the subjects were borderline to worst. This may be because majority of the subjects 75% were above 60 years of age. Monitoring as well as therapeutic interventions are needed to improve acceptance and QOL of patients with ICD.