Health-related quality of life of outpatients with systolic and isolated diastolic dysfunction: Sado Heart Failure Study.
BACKGROUND
The impact of isolated diastolic dysfunction (IDD) and systolic dysfunction (SD) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is unknown.


RESULTS
To evaluate HRQOL in patients with IDD and SD under treatment, information on outpatients aged 60-84 years was extracted from the records of 4,500 consecutive individuals who underwent echocardiographic examination at Sado General Hospital. The medical records of these patients were reviewed and a questionnaire, including the Medical Outcome Study Short Form 36, was mailed to 71 IDD and 99 SD patients; answers were obtained from 66 and 91 patients, respectively. The HRQOL of patients with cardiac dysfunction was impaired even when echocardiographic parameters improved with treatment. Patients with IDD showed an impairment of HRQOL similar to those with SD. Compared with males, female patients had a larger and more significant reduction in the physical and mental components of the HRQOL score. These scores correlated positively with exercise capacity in patients with IDD or SD.


CONCLUSIONS
Impaired HRQOL, in both its mental and physical components, is a serious problem for IDD and SD patients under treatment. Because exercise intolerance may underlie the reduced HRQOL, improving exercise capacity could be an important target for managing outpatients with heart failure.
Ohno
Yukiko
Y
Division of Cardiology, First Department of Internal Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan.
Okura
Yuji
Y
Ramadan
Mahmoud M
MM
Taneda
Koji
K
Suzuki
Keisuke
K
Tomita
Manabu
M
Hao
Kazuhisa
K
Kimura
Shinpei
S
Hoyano
Makoto
M
Mitsuma
Wataru
W
Tanaka
Komei
K
Kashimura
Takeshi
T
Ito
Masahiro
M
Hirono
Satoru
S
Hanawa
Haruo
H
Kodama
Makoto
M
Aizawa
Yoshifusa
Y
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D054144:Heart Failure, Diastolic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D054143:Heart Failure, Systolic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D011788:Quality of Life