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02-Aug-2018
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Arch Hellen Med, 35(4), July-August 2018, 490-496 ORIGINAL PAPER Quality of life of hospitalized patients with heart failure, NYHA IV A. Kikira,
I. Koutelekos,
S. Parissopoulos,
A. Tsami,
G. Fouka,
M. Polikandrioti |
OBJECTIVE To explore the quality of life (QoL) of patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF).
METHOD Data were collected from 60 hospitalized patients with HF NYHA IV by personal interview. The tools were a questionnaire specially designed for the purposes of the study, which included demographic and clinical characteristics and treatment adherence, as well as the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) to explore their quality of life (QoL).
RESULTS Of the 60 patients with HF, 66.7% were males and 76.7% were aged over 70 years. Regarding QoL, 50% of the patients scored above 66 (median) on the total QoL score, and above 30 and 13 in the domains of physical and mental state, respectively. These values indicate a moderate to high effect of HF on the QoL of the patients. Patients with dyspnea or edema recorded 15.1 and 8.5 points, respectively, higher scores on the MLHFQ scale than those without these symptoms (p=0.001, 95% CI: [8.24, 22.00] and p=0.022, 95% CI: [1.27, 15.74], respectively). Patients who reported difficulties in everyday activities recorded a mean score higher by 20.37 points on the MLHFQ scale than those who did not (p=0.001, 95% CI: [8.85, 31.89]).
CONCLUSIONS Better understanding of the factors affecting the QoL of patients with HF will contribute significantly to the implementation of holistic care for this sensitive group.
Key words: Heart failure, Hospitalized patients, NYHA IV, Quality of life.
