Health-related quality of life and sense of coherence among elderly patients with severe chronic heart failure in comparison with healthy controls

Objective: To describe health-related quality of life (QoL) and sense of coherence (SOC) in a group of elderly people with moderate to severe chronic heart failure and to make comparisons with a healthy sex- and age-matched control group. Methods: Patients (n = 94), with a mean age of 81 years, hospitalized for chronic heart failure with New York Heart Association functional classification III to IV were age- and sex-matched to a healthy control group. The instruments used were the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and SOC. Results: The patients had lower levels of health-related QoL scores (SF-36) but high and similar scores of SOC compared with the controls. There were, however, significant positive correlations between the SOC scores and the emotional dimensions in the SF-36 instrument. Conclusion: The findings from this study indicate that old age and severe chronic heart failure were associated with limited functional abilities and impaired health-related QoL but also with internal resources such as SOC. (Heart Lung® 2002; 31:94-101.)