Predictors of quality of life in patients with advanced heart failure awaiting transplantation

Background: Quality of life is an important outcome to measure in patients with end-stage heart disease who are awaiting heart transplantation. The purposes of this study were threefold: (1) to assess life satisfaction in multiple areas, (2) to examine correlations between life satisfaction and demographic, physiologic, and psychosocial variables, and (3) to identify predictors of quality of life in patients with advanced heart failure who were awaiting heart transplantation. Methods: Data were collected from a convenience sample of 359 adult heart transplant candidates from a midwestern and a southern medical center. Eight instruments were used to gather data from patients. All tools had adequate psychometric support. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. Results: Results showed that patients were most satisfied with significant others (e.g., emotional support from others, children, and family's health) and least satisfied with their health and functioning (e.g., current health status, ability to travel, and energy for daily activities). Significant correlations were found between total life satisfaction and age, New York Heart Association Functional classification, total number of daily medications, functional disability, symptom distress, stress, coping, helpfulness of heart transplant team interventions, health perception, expectation of transplant success, and overall quality of life. Conclusions: Eleven of 19 variables were significant predictors of higher quality of life in patients with advanced heart failure awaiting heart transplantation and accounted for 49% of explained variance: less symptom distress, better health perception, greater helpfulness of heart transplant team interventions, less stress, better coping ability, less functional disability, less use of fatalistic coping, older age, greater effectiveness of optimistic coping, being unemployed, and the expectation of transplant success.