Self-assessment of quality of life in severe heart failure: An instrument for clinical use

Improvement in quality of life (QL) is a primary objective of medical care, and the natural consequence of efforts made in hospital or during convalescence. Pharmacological intervention usually gives relief of symptoms, but may introduce expected and unexpected adverse reactions. This paper presents a self-administered questionnaire specially aimed to assess QL in severe heart failure. Compared with available instruments, the present questionnaire was designed to be simple and short, containing only 26 items. It was found to be relevant and comprehensive with satisfactory reliability and validity. The questionnaire includes somatic, emotional/cognitive aspects, life satisfaction and physical limitations. The questionnaire makes it possible to evaluate each subscale separately as well as altogether.