Recovery experiences and perceptions of quality of life after percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-elevation myocardial infarction: An interpretive descriptive qualitative study.
Recovery after primary PCI for STEMI in Tanzania extends beyond survival to include physical, emotional, and social dimensions, and holistic, patient-centred post-intervention care is needed to support long-term recovery in resource-limited settings.
Key Findings
Results
Participants perceived quality of life after primary PCI as an evolving experience closely linked to their recovery, with improvement in one aspect often accompanied by ongoing challenges in others.
Fourteen patients who had undergone primary PCI for STEMI were purposively sampled at a national referral cardiac centre in Tanzania.
Participants were interviewed within three months after PCI using in-depth interviews.
Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed with reflexive thematic analysis within an interpretive descriptive design.
Results
Six interrelated themes emerged from the data describing recovery and quality of life after primary PCI.
The themes were: physical symptoms; functional capacity and daily activities; emotional responses; coping and illness perceptions; social support and relationships; and health system interactions and communication.
The themes were described as interrelated rather than independent.
Results
Participants generally reported symptom improvement and gradual functional recovery after PCI.
This improvement was reported alongside persistent challenges in other domains.
Recovery was described as gradual rather than immediate.
Results
Persistent fatigue, activity limitations, emotional uncertainty, and unmet informational needs continued to affect participants' quality of life.
These challenges persisted despite symptom improvement and functional gains.
Emotional uncertainty and unmet information needs were identified as ongoing influences on quality of life.
Results
Family support and adaptive coping helped participants adjust to life after PCI.
Social support and relationships and coping and illness perceptions were two of the six themes.
These factors aided adjustment to post-PCI life.
Results
Healthcare communication shaped participants' confidence in managing their recovery.
Health system interactions and communication constituted one of the six themes.
Unmet informational needs were noted as a continuing challenge.
Conclusions
The authors conclude that recovery after primary PCI extends beyond survival to physical, emotional, and social dimensions, and that holistic, patient-centred post-intervention care is needed in resource-limited settings.
Context: cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality globally, with a disproportionate burden in low- and middle-income countries.
Evidence on patients' lived experiences of recovery after PCI in sub-Saharan Africa remains limited, which this study addresses.
What This Means
This study interviewed 14 people in Tanzania who had received an emergency heart procedure (primary PCI, which opens blocked heart arteries) after a serious type of heart attack. The interviews took place within three months of the procedure, and researchers looked for common patterns in what patients said about their recovery and quality of life.
Patients generally said their symptoms improved and they slowly regained the ability to do daily activities. However, many still had tiredness, limits on what they could do, worry and uncertainty about the future, and unanswered questions about their condition and care. Support from family and healthy ways of coping helped people adjust, and how well health workers communicated affected how confident patients felt managing their recovery.
This research suggests that surviving a heart attack and receiving the procedure is only part of recovery. Physical, emotional, and social needs continue afterward, so care that addresses all of these, including clear information, may be important, especially in places with limited resources. Because the study was small and qualitative, it describes experiences rather than measuring how common they are.
Haji F, Buluba S, Ndile M. (2026). Recovery experiences and perceptions of quality of life after percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-elevation myocardial infarction: An interpretive descriptive qualitative study.. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360291