RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Although numerous health-related quality-of-life instruments are available to measure patients' quality of life, few studies have compared these measures directly to determine how they function in the same group of patients. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to empirically compare psychometric properties of the Chronic Heart Failure Questionnaire (CHQ), the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (LHFQ), and the General Health Survey Short-form-12 (SF-12). SAMPLE: A convenience sample of 211 patients with heart failure completed baseline questionnaires; 165 patients completed the entire 26-week study. METHODS: Patients completed telephone interviews at baseline and at 4, 8, and 26 weeks after baseline. To compare mode of administration, a subset of patients (n = 173) completed face-to-face and telephone interviews. RESULTS: Patients reported low-to-moderate health-related quality-of-life overall. Reliability of the three instruments was satisfactory. Responsiveness to changing condition, as evaluated by analysis of variance, receiver operating curve characteristics, and the minimal clinically important difference method, indicated that the CHQ and LHFQ were more responsive to changing conditions than the SF-12. No major differences were noted between the scores of the face-to-face interviews and the baseline telephone interviews. The LHFQ and SF-12 were easier and took less time to administer than the CHQ. CONCLUSIONS: While all three instruments were reliable and valid, the CHQ and LHFQ were more sensitive than the SF-12 in detecting clinically important changes over time.
Asunto(s)
Insuficiencia Cardíaca/enfermería , Calidad de Vida , Pesos y Medidas , Adulto , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Estudios de Factibilidad , Femenino , Insuficiencia Cardíaca/epidemiología , Humanos , Entrevistas como Asunto/métodos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Psicometría/métodos , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Sensibilidad y Especificidad , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Estados Unidos/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
Health-related quality of life (HRQL) instruments have been used to measure HRQL in heart failure patients, but how different instruments compare in the same groups of patients is not known. The purpose of this study was to compare the reliability and validity of three HRQL measures in 211 heart failure patients recruited from clinics affiliated with an urban hospital. Two disease-specific instruments, the chronic heart failure questionnaire (CHQ) and the living with heart failure questionnaire (LHFQ), and one generic instrument, the short-form 12 (SF-12), were administered. Patients reported moderate to low HRQL scores. Floor or ceiling effects were noted in the disease-specific instruments. Internal consistency reliabilities of the CHQ and LHFQ were satisfactory. Construct, convergent, and discriminant validity were supported for each instrument. Each scale and subscale, except for the SF-12 mental component scale, differentiated between patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class I, II, and III plus IV; the LHFQ physical subscale was the only measure to differentiate between patients with NYHA class III and IV. All three instruments were satisfactory for measuring HRQL, but the disease-specific instruments were preferable to the generic instrument. The decision of which instrument to use depends on the purpose of the study.