Disability and quality of life in heart failure patients: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Although both hospitalization and mortality due to heart failure (HF) have been widely studied, less is known about the impact of HF on disability and quality of life. Aim To assess the degree of disability and quality of life in HF patients attended at family medicine centres. Design and setting Cross-sectional study of a cohort of HF patients attended at family medicine centres. Methods Disability was assessed with the WHODAS 2 questionnaire, which provides a global and six domain scores that is understanding and communication, getting around, self-care, getting along with people, life activities and participation in society. Quality of life was assessed with the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire, which furnishes a global and two domain scores, physical and emotional. Results A breakdown of the results showed that 28% of patients had moderate disability and 16.7% had severe disability, with the most important areas affected being: life activities, 8.9% extreme disability and 30.3% severe disability; getting around, 34.6% severe disability and 2% extreme disability; and participation in society, 53.3% moderate-severe disability. Quality of life was mildly affected. New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Classification and sex were the major determinants of disability and quality of life. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor antagonists were associated with better scores in the “getting around” and “life activity” domains. Conclusion HF patients in primary care show an important degree of disability and an acceptable quality of life.

Exploring the Relationship between Physical Activities and Health-Related Factors in the Health-Related Quality of Life among People with Disability in Korea

“…Studies on HRQoL for disabled people included: exploring factors that affect the lives of patients with specific diseases (e.g., strokes, schizophrenia, psoriasis, musculoskeletal pain, heart failure, multiple sclerosis, etc.) [33][34][35][36][37], older adults [38], specific patients (e.g., multiple sclerosis and chronic ankle symptom) and people with disabilities [39][40][41][42][43]; or exploring the extent of changes in HRQoL brought about by exercises or other interventions [38,44,45]. Studies on the HRQoL of disabled people, based on health-related factors (e.g., health behaviors such as drinking and smoking, degree of chronic disease, exercise participation, and health-related entities that affect HRQoL) were insufficient or lacking.…”

Calidad de vida en pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca en atención primaria (CAL-ICAP)

“…El nivel de dependencia fue uno de los factores con mayor impacto en el estado de salud autopercibida. Aunque la revisión de la literatura identifica el sexo y la clasificación de la NYHA como los principales factores determinantes de la CV (18)(19)(20), no se ha confirmado en el presente estudio. Sin embargo, este resultado podría explicarse en parte al alto porcentaje de infrarregistro.…”

“…En el trabajo de García Olmos et al, (20) las cifras obtenidas en el MLHFQ representan a pacientes con menor deterioro de su CV. La marcada diferencia podría justificarse por el grado funcional de la NYHA, ya que en el 80% de los pacientes del estudio mencionado se clasificaron en los grados I-II.…”

“…A pesar de ello, en el análisis bivariante, las mujeres mostraron un claro deterioro de la CV respecto a los hombres en todas las dimensiones del MLHFQ, con diferencias clínicamente relevantes tanto en la dimensión total de MLHFQ como en la EVA del EQ. Estos datos se equiparan a los encontrados en otros trabajos previos (18)(19)(20). Es conocido que los aspectos físicos y psicológicos no afectan por igual a pacientes de ambos sexos y que las características clínicas de la enfermedad difieren entre ellos (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27).…”

“…El grado de clasificación de la NYHA fue la variable con mayor impacto sobre la CV, ajustando por sexo, edad, presencia de otras patologías crónicas y consumo de recursos en el último año. Recientemente, García-Olmos et al (20) han estudiado la discapacidad y CV en pacientes mayores de 18 años en cinco centros de salud. Entre los factores asociados a una peor CV destacan la clasificación de la NYHA, el sexo, el tratamiento con diuréticos, bloqueadores de los canales de calcio y los antiagregantes plaquetarios.…”