Quality of life in patients with chronic rheumatic heart disease
The article presents the results of a study of the quality of life in 102 non-surgically treated patients with chronic rheumatic heart disease (CRHD) over 5 years. The authors used questionnaires to assess the quality of life: the Short Form Medical Outcomes Study (SF-36), the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MHFLQ). During 5-year follow-up, a statistically significant decrease in the total index of SF-36 physical health component from 36.39 ± 0.54 to 34.04 ± 0.74 and the functional status KCCQ from 23.14 ± 0.56 to 21.2 ± 0.58 was recorded against a 18.6 meters decrease in 6 minute walk distance, an increase in dyspnoea according to a visual analogue scale, a 0.1 cm2 decrease in the mitral orifice area and an increase in the atrium size. According to the summary of the SF-36 mental health component, the total clinical KCCQ indicator, and according to MHFLQ data, no statistically significant changes were observed. Two summary indicators of the KCCQ questionnaire had a significant correlation with SF-36: the functional KCCQ status correlated with the physical (correlation coefficient 0.689) and SF-36 mental (correlation coefficient 0.365) health components. The overall clinical KCCQ indicator also correlated with the SF-36 physical (correlation coefficient 0.305) and mental health – 38.65 ± 0.73 (correlation coefficient 0.588) components. Thus, SF-36 and KCCQ proved to be the most appropriate questionnaires to assess the quality of life of patients with CRDS.