Predictors of Health-Related Quality of Life for Mental Health Status in Patients After Carotid Endarterectomy

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with carotid stenosis and identify the predictive factors that affect the mental health status in patients after carotid endarterectomy (CEA). METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted of all patients presenting with carotid stenosis treated with CEA. Clinical data and demographics were collected for logistic regression analysis. The Short-Form General Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36) and minimum clinically important difference were used to evaluate the mental health status of patients after CEA. RESULTS: Between January 2015 and September 2017, a total of 224 patients were enrolled in this study. At baseline, mean SF-36 scores for physical component summary (PCS) (60.1 +/- 26.3) and mental component summary (MCS) (59.9 +/- 23.1) were significantly lower in patients with carotid disease than the urban population (P < 0.001). After CEA, the SF-36 scores for PCS (62.5 +/- 21.7) and MCS (68.4 +/- 18.7) were increased. However, only the improvement of MCS achieved minimum clinically important difference. After multiple logistic regression analysis, contralateral stenosis >= 50% (odds ratio [OR] 0.266, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.141-0.517) and hoarseness (OR 0.160, 95% CI 0.040-0.644) had negative effects on MCS. Dizziness improvement had positive effects on MCS (OR 2.882, 95% CI 1.569-0.298). CONCLUSIONS: Contralateral stenosis, dizziness improvement, and hoarseness may be the predictive factors that affect the mental health status in patients after CEA.