“Manifestations of the Heart”: Meanings Attributed to the Disease by Pre-surgical Cardiac Patients

ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore the meanings attributed to the cardiac disease by pre-surgical outpatients in the South of Brazil. It is a clinical and qualitative study, characterized as exploratory and descriptive. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and auto-photography, proposed to 15 individuals. The use of thematic analysis resulted in the following categories which emerged: Confrontation with the disease: questioning existing knowledge, denial of the disease, disease and work, and ruptured sexuality. Results highlighted difficulties of the participants in regards to the appropriation of the disease condition as well as its acceptance. This result points out the need for health care actions that may help cardiac pre-surgical patients to restructure their possibilities of life.