Emotional functioning drives quality of life in men with heart failure.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relative contributions of physical and emotional functioning to overall quality of life (QOL) in men with heart failure (HF). In 76 men with HF (age 63+/-11 years; left ventricular ejection fraction 27+/-9%; 20% NYHA III/IV), initial correlations of Cardiac-Quality of Life Index (C-QLI) scores with sociodemographic/clinical variables, physical functioning (6-minute walk test and Heart Failure Functional Status Inventory), and emotional functioning (depression, anxiety, and hostility, as measured by the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist) were followed by multivariate stepwise regression. After controlling for sociodemographic/clinical variables, younger age (variance=9%, P=.008), higher depressive symptoms (variance=16%, P=or<.001), and lower self-reported physical functioning (variance=4%, P=.03) accounted for lower C-QLI scores (R2=0.33, P=.03). Compared with physical functioning, emotional functioning and younger age have a stronger relationship to QOL in men with HF.