Provides information on why preoperative coronary bypass patients
with a postoperative bypass roommate recover sooner than patients who
have private quarters. Factors that affects speed recovery of
patients.
By
Peter Doskoch, published on March 01, 1997
Life
If your insurance company won't spring for a private hospital room
next time you need surgery, maybe you should be grateful. A team of
psychologists has found that preoperative coronary bypass patients who
were assigned a postoperative bypass roommate got back on their feet
quicker and were discharged sooner than patients who had private quarters
or who roomed with someone scheduled for a noncardiac procedure.
Given how traumatic surgery can be, lead researcher James Kulik,
Ph.D., of the University of California, San Diego, figured that the
emotional support roommates often exchange might speed recovery. But it
appears what helps patients most is the information fellow sufferers
provide--such as how they felt when the anesthesia wore off.
So should newly admitted patients demand a roommate who's undergone
the same procedure they're facing? Most hospitals, unfortunately, aren't
set up to accommodate such requests. But Kulik speculates that patients
with mismatched roommates--or none at all--might enjoy similar benefits
by simply chatting with others. "It's possible," he says, "that talking
to a fellow patient for an hour may work just as well as sharing a room
with someone."
PHOTO (COLOR): Patients demands for roommates.
Edited by Peter Doskoch
Tags:
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