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Quality of life among pulmonary hypertension patients in Finland.

ABSTRACT: The purpose of the study was to examine pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients' quality of life (QOL) for the first time in Finland.This was a non-interventional, cross-sectional study. The SF-36v2 questionnaire was sent to the PH patients who had been referred to or followed up on at the Helsinki University Central Hospital's pulmonary clinic for idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (APAH), or chronic thromboembolic PH (CTEPH). The patients were on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) - specific drugs, were at least 18 years old, and had signed an informed consent.There were 62 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, and 53% of respondents rated their health as moderate. Similarly, 55% of respondents rated their health status approximately the same compared to their situation 1 year ago. QOL was impaired in all other subscales, except for the mental health and mental component score. A majority of patients suffered from PH symptoms, which worsened their QOL. The greatest impact on their QOL was associated with a high World Health Organization (WHO) functional class (FC), poor performance in a 6-min walking test (6MWT), symptoms, oxygen therapy, elevated pro-brain natriuretic peptide, pericardial effusion, APAH etiology, and being retired from work.The respondents had a reduced QOL, compared to the general population, in all other subscales, except for mental health. APAH patients had the worst QOL. Good results in functional capacity measures (WHO FC, 6MWT) were associated with a better QOL. Patients' QOL can be improved by reducing the symptoms of PAH.

SUBMITTER: Kukkonen M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4718930 | biostudies-other | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Quality of life among pulmonary hypertension patients in Finland.

Kukkonen Merja M Puhakka Airi A Halme Maija M

European clinical respiratory journal 20160118

<h4>Background</h4>The purpose of the study was to examine pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients' quality of life (QOL) for the first time in Finland.<h4>Methods</h4>This was a non-interventional, cross-sectional study. The SF-36v2 questionnaire was sent to the PH patients who had been referred to or followed up on at the Helsinki University Central Hospital's pulmonary clinic for idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (APAH), or chronic thromboembo ...[more]

PMID: 26787306

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Project description:Chronic lung disease (CLD) is the second leading cause of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Although PH associated with CLD (PH-CLD) leads to impaired health-related quality of life (HRQOL), there are no validated tools to assess HRQOL in PH-CLD. The Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension-Symptoms and Impact Questionnaire (PAH-SYMPACT) is an HRQOL instrument aimed at assessing the symptoms and impact of PH on overall function and well-being. We performed a single-center prospective cohort study using PAH-SYMPACT scores to compare symptoms, exercise capacity and HRQOL in patients with PAH and PH-CLD. One hundred and twenty-five patients (99 patients with idiopathic/heritable PAH and 26 with PH-CLD) completed the PAH-SYMPACT questionnaire which consists of 22 questions that assess HRQOL across four domains: cardiopulmonary (CP) symptoms, cardiovascular (CV) symptoms, physical impact (PI), and cognitive/emotional (CE) impact. Higher scores indicate worse HRQOL. We compared patients with PAH and PH-CLD using a Wilcoxon rank sum or chi-squared test as appropriate. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between PH classification and SYMPACT scores. Compared to PAH, patients with PH-CLD were older, more likely to use oxygen and had worse functional class and exercise capacity. While there was no significant difference between the two groups in CP, CV, or CE domain scores, patients with PH-CLD had significantly worse PI scores by univariate (1.79 vs. 1.13, p < 0.001) and multivariate analysis (1.61 vs. 1.17, p = 0.02) and overall worse SYMPACT scores (1.19 vs. 0.91, p = 0.03). In conclusion, patients with PH-CLD have worse HRQOL as assessed by the PAH-SYMPACT questionnaire versus patients with PAH. Although PAH-SYMPACT has not been validated in PH-CLD, the results of this study can guide clinicians in understanding the symptoms and impact of PH-CLD relative to PAH.

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Quality of life among pulmonary hypertension patients in Finland.

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Quality of life among pulmonary hypertension patients in Finland.

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