Comorbidities and characteristics of coronary heart disease patients: their impact on health-related quality of life

Abstract

BackgroundPatients with coronary heart disease (CHD) commonly present with more than one comorbid condition, contributing to poorer health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of our study was to identify the associations between HRQoL and patient characteristics, vascular comorbidities and anxiety/depression disorders.MethodsThis observational study was conducted in 36 family medicine practices selected by random stratified sampling from all regions of Slovenia. HRQoL was assessed using the European Quality of Life - 5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaire and EQ Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS). The associations between HRQoL and patient characteristics stratified by demographics, vascular comorbidities, health services used, their assessment of chronic illness care, and anxiety/depression disorders were identified by ordinal logistic regression and linear regression models.ResultsThe final sample included 423 CHD patients with a mean age of 68.0 ± SD 10.8 years; 35.2% were female. Mean EQ-VAS score was 58.6 ± SD 19.9 (median: 60 with interquartile range of 45–75), and mean EQ-5D index was 0.60 ± SD 0.19 (median: 0.56 with interquartile range of 0.41–0.76). The statistically significant predictors of a lower EQ-VAS score were higher family physician visit frequency, heart failure (HF) and anxiety/depression disorders (R² 0.240; F = 17.368; p < 0.001). The statistically significant predictor of better HRQoL, according to EQ-5D was higher patient education, whereas higher family physician visit frequency, HF and peripheral artery disease (PAD) were predictors of poorer HRQoL (Nagelkerke R 2 = 0.298; χ 2 = 148.151; p < 0.001).ConclusionsResults of our study reveal that comorbid conditions (HF and PAD), family physician visit frequency and years in education are significant predictors of HRQoL in Slovenian CHD patients.

Health-related quality of life among adults living with diabetic foot ulcers: a meta-analysis

“…In this review, the scores for HRQOL relating to mental health were low indicating poor mental health. This result is congruent with the published research indicating that poor physical functioning is directly related to the psychological well-being of people with chronic conditions (Pols et al, 2017;Swardfager et al, 2016;Tušek-Bunc & Petek, 2016). Given that people with DFUs have poor mental health, access to psychosocial interventions both in the short and long term remains a priority for health services.…”

EQ-5D studies in cardiovascular diseases in eight Central and Eastern European countries: a systematic review of the literature

“…Overall, 45 reports on country-level EQ-5D scores were obtained. The majority of studies were performed in Poland (n = 24, 53%) , followed by Czech Republic (n = 8) [21,22,[43][44][45][46][47][48], and Slovenia (n = 5) [21,22,[49][50][51]. We also identified two studies from Bulgaria [21,22], Hungary [22,52], and Romania [21,22] and single studies from Austria [53] and Slovakia [54].…”

Bolesnik sa srčanom insuficijencijom – izazov za lekara porodične medicine

“…Postoje relevantni dokazi da se može odgoditi pojavljivanje SI savlađivanjem tih faktora i lečenjem asimptomatske disfunkcije leve komore. Tako je moguće kontrolom hipertenzije (ciljani sistolni krvni pritisak 120 vs. 140 mm Hg) kod starijih osoba (≥75 godina) bez šećerne bolesti ili kod visoko rizičnih bolesnika sa hipertenzijom upotrebom različitih antihipertenzivnih lekova, pogotovo ACE inhibitora, smanjiti rizik ne samo od kardivaskularnih bolesti nego smanjiti i mortalitet i rizik od hospitalizacija zbog SI ali, pre svega, poboljšati kvaliteta života ovih pacijenata [9,[41][42][43][44][45].…”