Evidence supports that both psychological and psychosocial factors, such as uncertainty and depression contribute to the incidence of poor health outcomes in cardiac patients undergoing surgery. Uncertainty and depression can illicit feelings of loss of control and have a direct effect on the health related quality of life of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Known predictor variables were identified and proposals for further research were explored in order to establish a standard of care for this population related to their psychological health. This research attempts to highlight those variables that most impact the long term outcomes of cardiac patients. In addition, the role of serotonin levels is explored as a function of identifying depressive symptomatology before and after surgery. Pre-operative assessment of these variables may assist in the development of interventional strategies that can be applied by health care providers in order to identify those patients at risk and to ultimately improve health outcomes.
","abstract_html":"<p>Evidence supports that both psychological and psychosocial factors, such as uncertainty and depression contribute to the incidence of poor health outcomes in cardiac patients undergoing surgery. Uncertainty and depression can illicit feelings of loss of control and have a direct effect on the health related quality of life of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Known predictor variables were identified and proposals for further research were explored in order to establish a standard of care for this population related to their psychological health. This research attempts to highlight those variables that most impact the long term outcomes of cardiac patients. In addition, the role of serotonin levels is explored as a function of identifying depressive symptomatology before and after surgery. Pre-operative assessment of these variables may assist in the development of interventional strategies that can be applied by health care providers in order to identify those patients at risk and to ultimately improve health outcomes.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Malitas, Mary"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"PhD","degree_level":"One-year Embargo","degree_discipline":"Nursing","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kathleen Sekula","Linda Goodfellow","Ellen Giarelli"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:09:07Z","subjects":["cardiovascular surgery","depression","serotonin","uncertainty"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/57","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Kathleen Sekula","Linda Goodfellow","Ellen Giarelli"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Malitas, Mary"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-12-20T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Nursing"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["One-year Embargo"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["PhD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["cardiovascular surgery","depression","serotonin","uncertainty"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/57"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Evidence supports that both psychological and psychosocial factors, such as uncertainty and depression contribute to the incidence of poor health outcomes in cardiac patients undergoing surgery. Uncertainty and depression can illicit feelings of loss of control and have a direct effect on the health related quality of life of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Known predictor variables were identified and proposals for further research were explored in order to establish a standard of care for this population related to their psychological health. This research attempts to highlight those variables that most impact the long term outcomes of cardiac patients. In addition, the role of serotonin levels is explored as a function of identifying depressive symptomatology before and after surgery. Pre-operative assessment of these variables may assist in the development of interventional strategies that can be applied by health care providers in order to identify those patients at risk and to ultimately improve health outcomes.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Exploring Variables of Post-Operative Depression"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Kathleen Sekula","Linda Goodfellow","Ellen Giarelli"],"dc:creator":["Malitas, Mary"],"dc:date.available":["2017-12-20T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Evidence supports that both psychological and psychosocial factors, such as uncertainty and depression contribute to the incidence of poor health outcomes in cardiac patients undergoing surgery. Uncertainty and depression can illicit feelings of loss of control and have a direct effect on the health related quality of life of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Known predictor variables were identified and proposals for further research were explored in order to establish a standard of care for this population related to their psychological health. This research attempts to highlight those variables that most impact the long term outcomes of cardiac patients. In addition, the role of serotonin levels is explored as a function of identifying depressive symptomatology before and after surgery. Pre-operative assessment of these variables may assist in the development of interventional strategies that can be applied by health care providers in order to identify those patients at risk and to ultimately improve health outcomes.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/57"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["cardiovascular surgery","depression","serotonin","uncertainty"],"dc:title":["Exploring Variables of Post-Operative Depression"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Nursing"],"thesis:degree_level":["One-year Embargo"],"thesis:degree_name":["PhD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:09:07Z"}