Resuming Domestic Activities After Myocardial Infarction: A Study in Female Patients

Abstract

For patients who have recently had a myocardial infarction (MI), domestic activities may demand a considerable and potentially hazardous amount of effort. The aim of this study was to analyse the cardiovascular load due to common household tasks. A method for measuring the workload of six standardized domestic activities was developed and tested in six healthy volunteers. The method was then used on 21 women who had had a recent MI. The women performed the test at their usual working pace. Heart rates and Borg rates of perceived exertion during these activities were compared with the values obtained at exercise testing (ET) on a bicycle ergometer before discharge from hospital after the acute MI and at a maximal ET 6 weeks after discharge. The results of a maximal ET in 16 women with non-recent coronary events were used as reference values. It was shown that resumption of common domestic work after a recent MI is indeed physically demanding. In 9 of the 21 patients, heart rates during domestic work, especially static-dynamic work (e.g. carrying shopping bags or wet laundry), exceeded the peak level allowed at the pre-discharge ET. Patients tended to underestimate the exertion required for domestic work compared with the workload ratings at similar heart rates during the pre-discharge ET. We suggest that female post-MI patients without signs of moderate/severe heart failure or significant myocardial ischaemia at a pre-discharge ET can resume domestic work, but that they should be cautious about doing strenuous static-dynamic work during the first 6 weeks after homecoming.