Experiences of informal caregivers after cardiac surgery: a systematic integrated review of qualitative and quantitative studies

Objectives To provide a comprehensive synthesis of informal caregivers’ experiences of caring for a significant other following discharge from cardiac surgery.Design Systematic integrated review without meta-analysis.Data sources A bibliographic search for publications indexed in six databases (Coch...

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Main Authors: Sigrun Halvorsen, Monica Parry, Philip Moons, Ann Kristin Bjørnnes, Theis Tønnessen, Irene Lie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2019-11-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e032751.full
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author Sigrun Halvorsen
Monica Parry
Philip Moons
Ann Kristin Bjørnnes
Theis Tønnessen
Irene Lie
author_facet Sigrun Halvorsen
Monica Parry
Philip Moons
Ann Kristin Bjørnnes
Theis Tønnessen
Irene Lie
author_sort Sigrun Halvorsen
collection DOAJ
description Objectives To provide a comprehensive synthesis of informal caregivers’ experiences of caring for a significant other following discharge from cardiac surgery.Design Systematic integrated review without meta-analysis.Data sources A bibliographic search for publications indexed in six databases (Cochrane Library, CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED and PsycINFO), including a scan of grey literature sources (GreyNet International, Google Scholar, Web of Science, WorldCat and the Clinical Trials Registry) was conducted in October 2018.Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Studies were included if they described views and perspectives of informal caregivers of cardiac surgery patients (non-intervention studies (qualitative and quantitative)), and the effectiveness of interventions to evaluate support programme for informal caregivers of cardiac surgery patients (intervention studies).Results Of the 4912 articles identified in searches, 42 primary research studies were included in a narrative synthesis with 5292 participants, including 3231 (62%) caregivers of whom 2557 (79%) were women. The median sample size across studies was 96 (range 6–734). Three major themes emerged from the qualitative study data: (1) caregiver information needs; (2) caregiver work challenges and (3) caregivers adaption to recovery. Across the observational studies (n=22), similar themes were found. The trend across seven intervention studies focused on caregiver information needs related to patient disease management and symptom monitoring, and support for caregivers to reduce symptoms of emotional distress.Conclusion Informal caregivers want to assist in the care of their significant others after hospital discharge postcardiac surgery. However, caregivers feel insecure and overwhelmed and they lack clear/concise discharge information and follow-up support during the early at-home recovery period. The burden of caregiving has been recognised and reported since the early 1990s, but there remains a limited number of studies that assesses the effectiveness of caregiver interventions.PROSPERO registration number CRD42018096590.
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spelling doaj-art-fe18eb06076d4369a86e41a21c2c0e932024-11-30T00:20:13ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552019-11-0191110.1136/bmjopen-2019-032751Experiences of informal caregivers after cardiac surgery: a systematic integrated review of qualitative and quantitative studiesSigrun Halvorsen0Monica Parry1Philip Moons2Ann Kristin Bjørnnes3Theis Tønnessen4Irene Lie5Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayLawrence S Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada2 KU Leuven Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven-University, Leuven, Belgium1 Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway6 Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Division of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Diseases, Oslo University Hospital Ullevaal, Oslo, NorwayObjectives To provide a comprehensive synthesis of informal caregivers’ experiences of caring for a significant other following discharge from cardiac surgery.Design Systematic integrated review without meta-analysis.Data sources A bibliographic search for publications indexed in six databases (Cochrane Library, CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED and PsycINFO), including a scan of grey literature sources (GreyNet International, Google Scholar, Web of Science, WorldCat and the Clinical Trials Registry) was conducted in October 2018.Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Studies were included if they described views and perspectives of informal caregivers of cardiac surgery patients (non-intervention studies (qualitative and quantitative)), and the effectiveness of interventions to evaluate support programme for informal caregivers of cardiac surgery patients (intervention studies).Results Of the 4912 articles identified in searches, 42 primary research studies were included in a narrative synthesis with 5292 participants, including 3231 (62%) caregivers of whom 2557 (79%) were women. The median sample size across studies was 96 (range 6–734). Three major themes emerged from the qualitative study data: (1) caregiver information needs; (2) caregiver work challenges and (3) caregivers adaption to recovery. Across the observational studies (n=22), similar themes were found. The trend across seven intervention studies focused on caregiver information needs related to patient disease management and symptom monitoring, and support for caregivers to reduce symptoms of emotional distress.Conclusion Informal caregivers want to assist in the care of their significant others after hospital discharge postcardiac surgery. However, caregivers feel insecure and overwhelmed and they lack clear/concise discharge information and follow-up support during the early at-home recovery period. The burden of caregiving has been recognised and reported since the early 1990s, but there remains a limited number of studies that assesses the effectiveness of caregiver interventions.PROSPERO registration number CRD42018096590.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e032751.full
spellingShingle Sigrun Halvorsen
Monica Parry
Philip Moons
Ann Kristin Bjørnnes
Theis Tønnessen
Irene Lie
Experiences of informal caregivers after cardiac surgery: a systematic integrated review of qualitative and quantitative studies
BMJ Open
title Experiences of informal caregivers after cardiac surgery: a systematic integrated review of qualitative and quantitative studies
title_full Experiences of informal caregivers after cardiac surgery: a systematic integrated review of qualitative and quantitative studies
title_fullStr Experiences of informal caregivers after cardiac surgery: a systematic integrated review of qualitative and quantitative studies
title_full_unstemmed Experiences of informal caregivers after cardiac surgery: a systematic integrated review of qualitative and quantitative studies
title_short Experiences of informal caregivers after cardiac surgery: a systematic integrated review of qualitative and quantitative studies
title_sort experiences of informal caregivers after cardiac surgery a systematic integrated review of qualitative and quantitative studies
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e032751.full
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