Abstract:
The purposes of this correlational research were to examine the health related quality of life in patients with aortic aneurysm after surgery and to investigate the relationships of social support, age, duration after surgery, types of aneurysm and surgery, illness representations, adherence to health behavior advised by the health care teams, and self-efficacy toward health behavioral practice, and health related quality of life in patients with aortic aneurysm after surgery. One hundred and forty-three post-operative patients with various types of aortic aneurysm surgery from 1 month to 1 year were recruited from tertiary care hospitals, all the countries. Questionnaires composed of demographic information, social support, illness representations, adherence to health behavioral practice, self-efficacy to health behavioral practice, and health related quality of life. Descriptive statistics, point biserial correlation coefficients and pearson s product moment correlation coefficients analyses were used to analyze data. The results showed as the followings:1. The score of health related quality of life of patients with aortic aneurysm after surgery was good ( = 62.09, SD = 18.30). The score of social support and adherence to health behavioral practice was at a high level ( = 47.62, SD = 4.01 and = 10.88, SD = 1.01). Self-efficacy to health behavioral practice was at a medium level ( = 27.23, SD = 4.17).2. In terms of symptoms of illness representations, patients reported claudication at most (49.7%), sensory loss at legs (37.8%), and anorexia and exhaustion (37.8%). They reported the cause of aortic aneurysm came from patient behavioral practice at most ( = 3.73, SD = 0.84). In terms of timeline, consequences, and curing/symptom controllability perception, the patients have represented accordingly and correctly.3. Age and perceiving symptoms and cause were negatively related to health related quality of life at the level of .05 (r = -.168, -.489 and -.266, respectively). Social support, illness representation of treatment or disease control, and self-efficacy in health behavioral practice were positively related to health related quality of life in patients with aortic aneurysm after surgery at the level of .05 (r = .216, .391 and .174, respectively). However, types of aortic aneurysm, types of surgery, duration after surgery, perceiving of timeline and consequences, and adherence of health behavioral practice were not related to health related quality of life in patients with aortic aneurysm after surgery