Open AccessComparison of Quality of Life Between Patients with Advanced Heart Failure and Heart Transplant Recipients
Author(s) -
Wágner do Nascimento Carvalho,
Anna Letícia Miranda,
Karla Cordeiro Gonçalves,
Anna Letícia Miranda,
Maria da Consolação Vieira Moreira
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
brazilian journal of cardiovascular surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.324
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1678-9741
pISSN - 0102-7638
DOI - 10.21470/1678-9741-2020-0402
Subject(s) - medicine , quality of life (healthcare) , heart failure , heart transplantation , transplantation , mann–whitney u test , health related quality of life , cross sectional study , physical therapy , disease , nursing , pathology
Heart transplantation is the treatment indicated for patients with advanced and refractory heart failure (HF). The transplant is expected to increase survival and improve the level of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of this study was to compare the level of HRQoL, as well as social and clinical variables, between patients with advanced HF and heart transplant (HT) recipients. Methods This is a cross-sectional study, conducted at a Brazilian university hospital, during outpatient consultations. The level of HRQoL was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Bref questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, and the comparison of the level of HRQoL was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results Two hundred sixty-two patients participated in the study. Seventy-nine of them had advanced-stage HF and 183 were HT recipients. Compared to patients with advanced HF, HT recipients had a better level of HRQoL, were less frequently absent from work due to health problems, had higher income, used a higher number of medications, and there was a higher percentage of retirees among them ( P -value < 0.001). Conclusion In every comparison, HT recipients showed a better level of HRQoL than patients with advanced HF, along with less absence from work and higher income. These results suggest that heart transplantation can improve HRQoL and survival of patients with advanced HF.