Heart 2000;84:390-394 ( October )

Cardiovascular medicine

A comparison of four quality of life instruments in cardiac patients: SF-36, QLI, QLMI, and SEIQoL H J Smith^a, R Taylor^b, A Mitchell^a

^a Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon, UK, ^b Health Services Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK

Correspondence to: Dr Taylor rod.taylor{at}nice.nhs.uk

Accepted 17 June 2000

BACKGROUNDWith the increasing use of quality of life measures in evaluations of cardiac interventions, criteria are needed for selecting appropriate quality of life measures. An important criterion is the sensitivity of a measure for detecting clinically important changes.
OBJECTIVESTo compare the sensitivity of four measures when used in a group of cardiac patients undergoing the same intervention.
METHODSThe short form 36 (SF-36), the quality of life index-cardiac version (QLI), the quality of life after myocardial infarction questionnaire (QLMI), and the schedule for the evaluation of individual quality of life (SEIQoL) were used to evaluate quality of life in a group of 22 patients after myocardial infarction or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), at the beginning of rehabilitation and six weeks later. Analysable data were obtained from 16 patients.
RESULTSA significant improvement over time was only observed for the SF-36 subscale, vitality (p < 0.05). Five of the eight SF-36 subscales and one of the four QLMI subscales showed modest sensitivity (index: > 0.2 and < 0.5), while all other subscales showed poor sensitivity (index: < 0.2). Using SEIQoL, family was most often nominated as an area of importance to quality of life (n = 13), followed by health (n = 10), leisure/hobbies (n = 8), marriage (n = 8), and work (n = 6).
CONCLUSIONSAll four QOL measures used in this study were found to lack sensitivity to change. Further research is needed using other cardiac populations and interventions in order to verify these findings, with a view to developing more sensitive quality of life scales.


Keywords: quality of life; heart disease; short form 36; quality of life index-cardiac version; quality of life after myocardial infarction questionnaire; schedule for the evaluation of individual quality of life

---

© 2000 by Heart
CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Johansen, J. B., Pedersen, S. S., Spindler, H., Andersen, K., Nielsen, J. C., Mortensen, P. T. (2008). Symptomatic heart failure is the most important clinical correlate of impaired quality of life, anxiety, and depression in implantable cardioverter-defibrillator patients: a single-centre, cross-sectional study in 610 patients. Europace 10: 545-551 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pedersen, S. S, Theuns, D. A., Muskens-Heemskerk, A., Erdman, R. A., Jordaens, L. (2007). Type-D personality but not implantable cardioverter-defibrillator indication is associated with impaired health-related quality of life 3 months post-implantation. Europace 9: 675-680 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Schweikert, B, Hahmann, H, Leidl, R (2006). Validation of the EuroQol questionnaire in cardiac rehabilitation. Heart 92: 62-67 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Levack, P, Graham, J, Kidd, J (2004). Listen to the patient: quality of life of patients with recently diagnosed malignant cord compression in relation to their disability. Palliat Med 18: 594-601 [Abstract]  
• Gribbin, G. M., Kenny, R. A., McCue, P., Toff, W. D., Bexton, R. S., McComb, J. M. (2004). Individualised quality of life after pacing. Does mode matter?. Europace 6: 552-560 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gronefeld, G.C., Hohnloser, S.H. (2003). Quality of life in atrial fibrillation: an increasingly important issue. Eur Heart J Suppl 5: H25-H33 [Abstract]  
• Gronefeld, G. C., Lilienthal, J., Kuck, K.-H., Hohnloser, S. H., for the Pharmacological Intervention in Atrial Fib, (2003). Impact of rate versus rhythm control on quality of life in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation: Results from a prospective randomized study. Eur Heart J 24: 1430-1436 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bunch, T. J., White, R. D., Gersh, B. J., Meverden, R. A., Hodge, D. O., Ballman, K. V., Hammill, S. C., Shen, W.-K., Packer, D. L. (2003). Long-Term Outcomes of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest after Successful Early Defibrillation. NEJM 348: 2626-2633 [Abstract] [Full Text]