Thoracic transplantationOutcomeDark-Recovery Experiences, Coping Strategies, and Needs of Adult Heart Transplant Recipients in Taiwan
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
We used an exploratory descriptive qualitative design among a sample of AHTRs with DRE. Face-to-face indepth interviews were performed with a semistructured interview guide. Data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis mode.
Demographic Data
Among the 20 AHTRs who participated in this project, 16 were men with the overall age from 32–70 years (mean, 46.95). Most subjects were married. As to their occupations, 6 were business people, 2 laborers, 2 public servants, 2 freelancers, and 1 in each of the follow categories: agriculture, retired, security service, chef, housekeeping, finance, administrative staff in car service, and laboratory assistant. Regarding postoperative employment, 7 remained unemployed, 3 worked as freelancers,
Discussion
Infection and acute rejection were the most severe complications postsurgery as well as the major causes of death.5 In this study, subjects indicated that they experienced a dark period caused by major changes in their health status, which included rejection, infection, and sudden decrease in cardiac function. After transplantation surgery, AHTRs understood the threats of rejection and infection, they were also afraid of those complications, which induced the dark period. Furthermore, 40% of
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