title: The HeartQoL: Part I. Development of a new core health-related quality of life questionnaire for patients with ischemic heart disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evaluation of health-related quality of life (HRQL) is important in improving the quality of patient care.
  
  
  METHODS
  The HeartQoL Project, with cross-sectional and longitudinal phases, was designed to develop a core ischemic heart disease (IHD) specific HRQL questionnaire, to be called the HeartQoL, for patients with angina, myocardial infarction (MI), or ischemic heart failure. Patients completed a battery of questionnaires and Mokken scaling analysis was used to identify items in the HeartQoL questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We enrolled 6384 patients (angina, n = 2111, 33.1%; MI, n = 2351, 36.8%; heart failure, n = 1922, 30.1%) across 22 countries and 15 languages. The HeartQoL questionnaire comprises 14-items with 10-item physical and 4-item emotional subscales which are scored from 0 (poor HRQL) to 3 (better HRQL) with a global score if needed. The mean baseline HeartQoL global score was 2.2 (±0.5) in the total group and was different (p < 0.001) by diagnosis (MI, 2.4 ± 0.5; angina, 2.2 ± 0.6; and heart failure, 2.1 ± 0.6).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The HeartQoL questionnaire, with global and subscale scores, has the potential to allow clinicians and researchers to (a) assess baseline HRQL, (b) make between-diagnosis comparisons of HRQL, and (c) evaluate change in HRQL in patients with angina, MI, or heart failure with a single IHD-specific HRQL instrument.
authors: School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, USA.
authors: Neil
authors: N
authors: Oldridge
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Höfer
authors: Hannah
authors: H
authors: McGee
authors: Ronan
authors: R
authors: Conroy
authors: Frank
authors: F
authors: Doyle
authors: Hugo
authors: H
authors: Saner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005060:Europe; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011594:Psychometrics; D058996:Quality Improvement; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires