Health-Related Quality of Life and Psychological States in Patients With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a chronic illness that impairs physical function and leads to right-sided heart failure and premature death. There is limited knowledge on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and psychological states in patients with PAH. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the HRQOL and the psychological states of patients with PAH along with predictors of HRQOL. Methods: In a cross-sectional design, participants with PAH completed the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 v2 to measure generic HRQOL, the US Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension Outcome Review to measure disease-specific HRQOL, and the Profile of Mood States to measure the psychological states. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate all sociodemographic and clinical data and were expressed as means and standard deviations for continuous variables and as frequencies and proportions for dichotomous and nominal variables. The statistical significance level was set at P < 0.05. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to examine the sociodemographic and clinical variables as predictors of HRQOL. A bivariate analysis of the sociodemographic and clinical variables was performed to determine correlates with HRQOL. The variables that correlated with HRQOL at the 0.20 level of significance were included. Results: There were 149 participants, 127 women and 22 men, with a mean age of 53.5 years. The participants demonstrated diminished general health, physical functioning, role physical, and vitality on the Short Form-36 v2. Functional class, education level, oxygen use, years since diagnosis, and calcium channel blocker therapy were predictive of poorer HRQOL. Conclusions: Patients with PAH are experiencing diminished physical health and HRQOL. Future studies are needed to design and test interventions to improve HRQOL.