Quality of life and disease experience in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in Spain: a mixed-methods study

Objectives To gather insights on the disease experience of patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), and assess how patients' experiences and narratives related to the disease complement data collected through standardised patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). Also, to explore new ways of evaluating the burden experienced by patients and caregivers. Design Observational, descriptive, multicentre, cross-sectional, mixed-methods study. Setting Secondary care, patient's homes. Participants Twenty patients with HFrEF (New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification I-III) aged 38-85 years. Measures PROMs EuroQoL 5D-5L (EQ-5D-5L) and Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire and patient interview and observation. Results A total of 20 patients with HFrEF participated in the study. The patients' mean (SD) age was 72.5 (11.4) years, 65% were male and were classified in NYHA functional classes I (n=4), II (n=7) and III (n=9). The study showed a strong impact of HF in the patients' quality of life (QoL) and disease experience, as revealed by the standardised PROMs (EQ-5D-5L global index=0.64 (0.36); Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire total symptom score=71.56 (20.55)) and the in-depth interviews. Patients and caregivers often disagreed describing and evaluating perceived QoL, as patients downplayed their limitations and caregivers overemphasised the poor QoL of the patients. Patients related current QoL to distant life experiences or to critical moments in their disease, such as hospitalisations. Anxiety over the disease progression is apparent in both patients and caregivers, suggesting that caregiver-specific tools should be developed. Conclusions PROMs are an effective way of assessing symptoms over the most recent time period. However, especially in chronic diseases such as HFrEF, PROM scores could be complemented with additional tools to gain a better understanding of the patient's status. New PROMs designed to evaluate and compare specific points in the life of the patient could be clinically more useful to assess changes in health status.