Abstract

SOTO, M.  and  FAILDE, I.. Health-related quality of life as an outcome measure in patients with ischemic cardiopathy. Rev. Soc. Esp. Dolor [online]. 2004, vol.11, n.8, pp.53-62. ISSN 1134-8046.

The term health-related quality of life (HRQL) is a concept related to the assessment of how the individual perceives health and that covers both objective and subjective aspects. Despite the lack of consensus about its definition, several tools have been developed for the measurement of HRQL in different pathologies, such as in the ischemic cardiopathy. These tools take into consideration different dimensions of the HRQL and are usually classified as generic or specific questionnaires. These tools must have certain features in order to be considered useful, allowing to record patient perceptions in a quantitative or semi-quantitatively way that might be communicated and used to describe, assess or compare. The assessment of HRQL is important due to the high relevance of this disease in terms of epidemiology and health care, and also in terms of the related psychological aspects that are not always duly considered by clinicians. We describe the most widely used generic and specific HRQL questionnaires in ischemic cardiopathy, indicating the dimensions covered by each of them. Finally, the main uses of the measurement of HRQL in the ischemic cardiopathy for the assessment of outcomes are reviewed, with reference to clinical trials and cardiac rehabilitation. It is stressed that the assessment of HRQL in the ischemic cardiopathy provides us with a final health outcome focused on the individual instead of the disease; focused on how the patient feels, regardless the clinical data. Hence, the assessment of HRQL in the ischemic cardiopathy is a tool aimed to promote a patient-focused health care and to provide information that complements the traditional clinical assessment. For this purpose, the clinical interpretability of the different assessment questionnaires should be further improved.

Keywords : Health-related quality of life; Ischemic cardiopathy; HRQL questionnaires; Outcome measures.

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