Research Symposium

BIO

I am Thomas Knobel from Spring Lake, New Jersey. I'm a pre-med student with a special interest in anesthesia. I'm currently working under Dr. Amy Ai on her psychological study on post-traumatic growth in cardiovascular patients.

Post Traumatic Growth after Cardiovascular Events and Procedures

Abstract

Negative mental health is one of many conditions that make cardiovascular surgery a potentially life threatening event due to its influence on the physical body (Huffman, 2013). Although mortality in these operations has declined, many patients describe them as traumatic events, with 17% of individuals (52 surveyed, 69.2% men, median age of 65 years) describing it as the most traumatic event of their lives (Magid, 2019). However, as morbidity rates in cardiovascular surgeries have declined, research has expanded into the post traumatic growth (PTG) patients often undergo from the experience. The predictors of this growth are often related to positive postoperative outcome indicators. For example, depression is strongly correlated with negative outcomes from cardiovascular operations (Tully, 2012), while self-reported mental health and quality of life is correlated to positive results from cardiovascular surgery (Kubzansky, 2018). We can use these predictors to assess the postoperative psychological impacts on patients and appropriately plan their treatment. This can be used to reduce the frequency of negative mental impacts as well as help increase the frequency and magnitude of post traumatic growth from cardiovascular surgery.

Keywords: Cardiovascular Post Trumatic Growth Surgery