Validity of an indigenously developed Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research-Quality of Life Questionnaire in heart failure patients of a tertiary cardiac center

Abstract

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) causes a high impact on morbidity and mortality; it also affects the quality of life (QOL) and psychometric components. Aim: To develop a simple module to assess QOL including various parameters such as functional status, symptoms, emotional well-being, financial impact, social function, and health-related behavior. Methods: The study was conducted at Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, Mysore, which has an annual inpatient admissions of over 12,000 cardiac cases. Two hundred patients were included in the study. All 200 patients were given both Minnesota Living with HF (MLHFQ) Questionnaire and Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research (SJICSR) Questionnaire after translation into their native language. Results: Out of 200 patients, 75% were male. 71% of them had ischemic heart disease. The mean questions filled were 18.45 in SJICSR-QOL questionnaire and 20.29 in Minnesota questionnaire. The time taken for the researcher to conduct the interview and for the patient to fill up the SJICSRQOL Questionnaire was significantly less than that needed for the Minnesota Questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha tool was utilized to analyze the reliability. When seven subgroups were considered, the questions showed reliability of 0.879, and when six subgroups were considered, the reliability was found to be 0.898. Conclusion: Both SJICR-QOL and MLQOL are valid and reliable tools of measure of QOL in patients with HF. The time taken was lesser, and more questions were answered in SJCISR-QOL questionnaire. It is a potential tool for future use in both research and clinical practice in congestive HF patients, even in primary care setting.