Burden of heart failure on patients from China: results from a cross-sectional survey

Purpose: Little evidence exists on the burden that chronic heart failure (HF) poses specifically to patients in China. The objective of this study, therefore, was to describe the burden of HF on patients in China. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey of cardiologists and their patients with HF was conducted. Patient record forms were completed by 150 cardiologists for 10 consecutive patients. Patients for whom a patient record form was completed were invited to complete a patient questionnaire. Results: Most of the 933 patients (mean [SD] age 65.8 [10.2] years; 55% male; 80% retired) included in the study received care in tier 2 and 3 hospitals in large cities. Patients gave a median score of 4 on a scale from 1 (no disruption) to 10 (severe disruption) to describe how much HF disrupts their everyday life. Patients in paid employment (8%) missed 10% of work time and experienced 29% impairment in their ability to work due to HF in the previous week. All aspects of patients' health-related quality of life (QoL) were negatively affected by their condition. Mean +/- SD utility calculated by the 3-level 5-dimension EuroQol questionnaire was 0.8 +/- 0.2, and patients rated their health at 70.3 (11.5) on a 100 mm visual analog scale. Patients incurred costs associated with HF treatment, travel, and professional caregiving services. Conclusion: HF is associated with poor health-related QoL and considerable disruption in patients' lives. Novel and improved therapies are needed to reduce the burden of HF on patients and the health care system.