Relationship of age and sex to health-related quality of life in patients with heart failure

BACKGROUND Although health-related quality of life is diminished among patients with chronic heart failure, few investigators have examined interactions of age and sex with health-related quality of life longitudinally. OBJECTIVES To examine differences in health-related quality of life among 4 groups of patients with heart failure on the basis of age (<65 years and greater than or equal to65 years) and sex and to evaluate relationships of age and sex to changes in health-related quality of life during 6 months. METHODS Patients from 2 outpatient clinics in an urban county hospital were interviewed at baseline and 26 weeks later. Health-related quality of life was measured by using the Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire and the Chronic Heart Failure Questionnaire. RESULTS A total of 165 patients (52% women; mean age, 57.6 years) completed interviews at baseline and 26 weeks later. At baseline, patients younger than 65 years had poorer health-related quality of life scores on total scales and some subscales than did older patients. Women had poorer scores than did men on some scales, particularly the emotional subscales. At 26 weeks, patients younger than 65 had poorer total health-related quality of life on I scale than did patients 65 and older and women had poorer scores than did men on I total scale. With demographic and clinical factors controlled for, women younger than 65 had improvements in health-related quality of life on some scales. CONCLUSIONS Women younger than 65 years had relatively poorer initial health-related quality of life that improved after 26 weeks.