Medical care
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Risk stratification for comparison of outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) typically includes only clinical measures of risk. Patient-reported health status may be an important independent predictor of short-term health outcomes. ⋯ The PCS score is independently and significantly associated with in-hospital mortality and prolonged length of stay, after controlling for clinical risk factors. The MCS score is independently and significantly associated only with mortality, though the direction of the effect is unexpected. The result likely reflects a property of the scoring of the MCS and not a finding of clinical substance. Although caution must be taken when interpreting the summary scores, the SF-36 yields information not otherwise captured by clinical data and may be useful in risk stratification for in-hospital mortality and prolonged length of stay after CABG.