Quality of life – an important parameter of cardiac rehabilitation in heart failure patients

Abstract

Heart failure is a significant healthcare problem, because of its impact at the individual and populational level, through multiple rehospitalizations and increased morbi-mortality. At the individual level, the multidimensional impact of this clinical condition and its treatment on patients' daily lives is reflected in the quality of life (QoL). QoL needs to be accurately measured, because it’s related to high hospitalization and mortality rates and provides valuable information that cannot be directly obtained using clinical, biological or imaging measurements. For these reasons, QoL evaluation (global score, subscale scores, answers to various items, etc.) is a significant parameter for assessing the impact of and for structuring the cardiac rehabilitation programs (exercise training, nutritional counseling, psychosocial support and interventions, etc). In order to increase the long-term efficiency, these programs need also to include strategies to optimize and increase adherence to lifestyle changes and to medical therapy.

Keywords

• heart failure
• quality of life
• cardiac rehabilitation