Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Oct 21;10(10):e037017.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037017.

Living with a left ventricular assist device: psychological burden and coping: protocol for a cross-sectional and longitudinal qualitative study

Michael Levelink  1 , Harald Christian Eichstaedt  2 , Sven Meyer  3 , Anna Levke Brütt  4
Affiliations

Living with a left ventricular assist device: psychological burden and coping: protocol for a cross-sectional and longitudinal qualitative study

Michael Levelink et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Introduction: Due to technological progress and persistent shortage of donor hearts, left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have become established in the treatment of advanced heart failure. Accordingly, more patients live with LVADs for prolonged periods. Related research focused primarily on clinical issues and little is known about psychosocial aspects of living with an LVAD. This study aims to explore psychological burden and coping following LVAD implantation.

Methods and analysis: An exploratory qualitative study with cross-sectional and longitudinal elements will be carried out. At least 18 patients with LVAD who have the device implanted from a few weeks to more than 3 years will be interviewed in the cross-sectional component using an interview guide. A subsample of patients who live with the LVAD for up to 3 months when recruited will be interviewed two additional times in the following year. The cross-sectional interviews will be analysed using an inductive qualitative content analysis to describe psychological burden, coping resources and behaviour from the patient's perspective. Based on the findings, the longitudinal interviews will be analysed with a deductive content analysis to explore psychological adjustment during the first year after implantation. The findings will provide a deeper understanding of the complex and specific situation of patients with LVAD and of psychological adjustment to living with a life-sustaining implant. This can help clinicians in considering individual aspects to promote patient outcomes and is the basis for further research on healthcare interventions or technical solutions to reduce burden and for developing rehabilitation measures to promote psychosocial outcomes.

Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval was obtained from the ethics committee of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Oldenburg (2019-023). Study findings will be disseminated at national and international conferences and through peer-reviewed journals.

Trial registration number: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00016883).

Keywords: heart failure; qualitative research; rehabilitation medicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Transactional model of stress and coping (own illustration based on Folkman et al, Lazarus and Folkman14).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Survey and case number planning.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. GBD 2015 Mortality and Causes of Death Collaborators Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980-2015: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2015. Lancet 2016;388:1459–544. 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31012-1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ziaeian B, Fonarow GC. Epidemiology and aetiology of heart failure. Nat Rev Cardiol 2016;13:368–78. 10.1038/nrcardio.2016.25 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Grady KL, Warner Stevenson L, Pagani FD, et al. . Beyond survival: recommendations from INTERMACS for assessing function and quality of life with mechanical circulatory support. J Heart Lung Transplant 2012;31:1158–64. 10.1016/j.healun.2012.08.020 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Slaughter MS, Rogers JG, Milano CA, et al. . Advanced heart failure treated with continuous-flow left ventricular assist device. N Engl J Med 2009;361:2241–51. 10.1056/NEJMoa0909938 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Willemsen D, Cordes C, Bjarnason-Wehrens B, et al. . [Rehabilitation standards for follow-up treatment and rehabilitation of patients with ventricular assist device (VAD)]. Clin Res Cardiol Suppl 2016;11 Suppl 1:2–49. 10.1007/s11789-015-0077-x - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data