Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Consultant Cardiac Surgeon Cristiano Spadaccio is embarking on a year-long research project looking at patient outcomes following cardiac surgery.
The project, funded by a grant awarded by the Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, will capture data on the “real life” impact of surgery for patients.
A dedicated clinical research unit within the Cardiothoracic department at Blackpool Victoria Hospital will be established to assess patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in cardiac surgery interventions using special questionnaires looking at both generic and disease-specific issues.
To help facilitate the project and mean it won’t impact on important clinical time, an app is being developed with the information captured via the questionnaires feeding straight to a database.
Currently, the metrics used to assess the effectiveness of a cardiac intervention rely on clinical and technical data outcomes.
This project will use what are known as patient-reported domains which will take in different areas of a person’s life and wellbeing, health perception, social life, activities etc (see figure). By knowing the impact of surgery on their life in day-to-day terms, it will be possible to recognise the real importance and effect of cardiac interventions on patients.
Cristiano Spadaccio
The overarching aim is to integrate Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) assessment into the standard clinical pathway for cardiac surgery patients, promoting overall well-being and enhancing cardiovascular health outcomes.
If successful within the one-year funding period, the proposed framework could be introduced into the standard pathways of cardiac patients, with potential extension to longer-term follow-up. Additionally, the results may inform the development of new patient-facing digital applications that allow patients to directly report PROs, enabling telemonitoring, or remote monitoring, of their cardiovascular health.
Schematic diagram depicting the four main domains captured by PROs and the relative specific questionnaire used as measuring tool.
Cristiano said “By obtaining the unique perspective of patients, the project aims to assess the real impact of cardiac interventions on symptoms and quality of life. The findings will contribute to a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of cardiac interventions and inform shared decision-making between patients and healthcare professionals”.