Disability in Activities of Daily Living after Discharge from the Cardiac Care Unit: A Cross-sectional Study

Patients admitted to the cardiac care unit (CCU) are prone to functional degradation and disability due to prolonged hospitalization and cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the activities of daily living (ADLs) after discharge from CCU. This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 180 subjects selected through convenience sampling from the patients admitted to the post-CCU of the hospitals affiliated to the three major medical universities of Tehran, Iran. The ADLs were evaluated by the Barthel index and the data were analyzed by the Wilcoxon test using SPSS version 19. P < 0.05 was considered significant. Bathing had the highest dependence level (21.1%) and disability in this activity increased from 12.8% to 33.9% after discharge. The lowest dependence was found for feeding (2.8%) anddependence augmented after admission, compared to before (92.96±16.02 and 82.85±22.22, respectively). The findings of this study could be applied in empowering the caregivers and designing home care plans for the patients after discharge from the CCU.