Assessment of health-related quality of life in patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy using Minnesota living with heart failure questionnaire: A validation study.

OBJECTIVE: Chagas cardiomyopathy (ChC) is the most severe clinical form of Chagas disease and, in association with psychosocial factors, can compromise the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of affected patients. To date, there is no specific instrument to assess the HRQoL of these patients, and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLwHFQ), specific for heart failure, is being used both in research and current clinical practice. Therefore, we aimed to verify the validity of the MLwHFQ in the assessment of HRQoL of patients with ChC. METHODS: Fifty patients with ChC (50.6 ± 10.1 years, NYHA I-III) were evaluated. The MLwHFQ, Short-Form of Health Survey (SF-36), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Human Activity Profile (HAP) were applied. All patients underwent echocardiography and Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET). RESULTS: The MLwHFQ score correlated with almost all SF-36 domains (with r-value ranging from -0.38 to -0.69), except pain (p = 0.118). The MLwHFQ score also correlated with the BDI score (r = 0.748; p < 0.001), HAP score (r = -0.558; p = 0.001), peak oxygen uptake (r = -0.352; p = 0.01), and left ventricular ejection fraction (r = -0.329; p = 0.021). There was no significant difference in the score found on the MLwHFQ among NYHA classes (p = 0.101), as well as between patients with systolic dysfunction (n = 30) and preserved cardiac function (n = 20) (p = 0.058). Similarly, there was no significant difference in the score found on the physical (p = 0.423) and mental (p = 0.858) components of SF-36 between patients with systolic dysfunction and preserved cardiac function (p = 0.271 and p = 0.609, respectively). There was also no difference in the mental component of SF-36 among NYHA classes (p = 0.673). However, the HRQoL using the physical component of SF-36 was worse in advanced NYHA classes (p = 0.014). CONCLUSION: MLwHF correlated with most SF-36 HRQoL domains, depressive symptoms, physical activity, and systolic function and seems to be valid in assessing the HRQoL of ChC patients.

Reliability and validity of specific quality of life assessment questionnaires related to chronic venous insufficiency: a systematic review.

This systematic review aimed to discuss the main findings regarding the reliability and validity of health-related quality of life questionnaires for chronic venous insufficiency. Searches were performed on the MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, LILACS, and Scopus databases. The search terms used were related to "venous insufficiency", and "quality of life". The CIVIQ-20 and CIVIQ-14 instruments had adequate internal consistency and both were able to discriminate disease severity. The VEINES-QoL showed adequate internal consistency but was not able to discriminate disease severity. Most studies did not demonstrate a correlation between VEINES-QoL and the mental component of the SF-36. The AVVQ had inadequate reliability but its validity was also doubtful when compared to the SF-36. The VARIShort demonstrated good internal consistency, reproducibility, and validity, but only the original study was included. For venous leg ulcers, the CCVUQ showed adequate reliability and validity when compared to VLU-QoL.

Esta revisão sistemática objetivou discutir os principais achados sobre a confiabilidade e validade dos questionários de qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde na insuficiência venosa crônica. A busca foi realizada nas bases de dados MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, LILACS e Scopus. Os termos de busca foram relacionados a "insuficiência venosa" e "qualidade de vida". O Chronic Lower Limb Venous Insufficiency Questionnaire (CIVIQ)-20 e o CIVIQ-14 apresentaram consistência interna adequada e foram capazes de discriminar a gravidade da doença. O Venous Insufficiency Epidemiological and Economic Study ­ Quality of Life (VEINES-QoL) apresentou consistência interna adequada, mas não foi capaz de discriminar a gravidade da doença. A maioria dos estudos não demonstrou associação do VEINES-QoL com o componente mental do Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). O Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire (AVVQ) apresentou confiabilidade inadequada e validade duvidosa quando comparado ao SF-36. O VARIShort demonstrou consistência interna, reprodutibilidade e validade boas, mas apenas o estudo original foi incluído. Na úlcera venosa, o Charing Cross Venous Ulcer Questionnaire (CCVUQ) apresentou confiabilidade e validade adequadas quando comparado ao Venous Leg Ulcer Quality of Life (VLU-QoL).

The usefulness of patient-reported outcome measures in decision making in Chagas cardiomyopathy: a scoping review.

Chagas cardiomyopathy (ChC) presents many biopsychosocial complexities, highlighting the need to have patient self-report questions. This study demonstrates the scope of the use of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in patients with ChC and highlights the main research gaps. This is a scoping review and the search strategy was performed in the Online Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLINE), Excerpta Medica database (EMBASE), Accumulated Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Cochrane Central, Latin American Literature and Caribbean in Health Sciences (LILACS) and Diagnostic Test Accuracy (DITA). The search identified 4484 studies and 20 studies met the inclusion criteria. The Short-Form of 36 items (SF-36) had potential prognostic value and the ability to identify systolic dysfunction. The Human Activity Profile was able to screen for functional impairment, and the New York Heart Association showed potential prognostic value. The SF-36 and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire were responsive to interventions. The pharmaceutical care affected adherence to treatment as assessed by the Morisky score and also for SF-36. Despite the increased use of PROMs, there are still a large number of gaps in the literature, and further studies using PROMs are needed.

Functional predictors of poor outcomes in Chagas cardiomyopathy: The value of end-tidal carbon dioxide at peak exercise.

BACKGROUND: Functional impairment can be detected from the onset of heart disease in patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy (ChC) and the prognostic value of the end-tidal carbon dioxide at peak exercise (PETCO2 peak) should be investigated. OBJECTIVE: To verify the prognostic value of PETCO2 peak in patients with ChC. METHODS: Seventy-six patients with ChC (49.2 ± 9.8 years, NYHA I-III) were evaluated by echocardiography and Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing. Patients were followed up to four years and the end-point was defined as cardiovascular death, stroke, or cardiac transplantation. RESULTS: At the end of the follow-up period (29.0 ± 16.0 months), 16 patients (21%) had experienced adverse events. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to identify the risk of adverse events by PETCO2 peak in patients with ChC was 0.83 (95% CI: 0.69 to 0.97), and the value of 32 mmHg was the optimal cut point (70% of sensitivity and 85% of specificity). In the Kaplan-Meier diagram, there was a significant difference (p<0.001) between patients with reduced (≤ 32 mmHg) and preserved PETCO2 peak (>32 mmHg). In the final Cox multivariate model, only reduced PETCO2 peak (HR 4.435; 95% CI: 1.228 to 16.016, p = 0.023) and VO2peak (HR 0.869; 95% CI: 0.778 to 0.971, p = 0.013) remained as independent predictors of poor outcome in ChC patients. CONCLUSION: Reduced PETCO2 peak and VO2peak demonstrated valuable prognostic value in patients with ChC. The cutoff points for both functional variables can be used during risk stratification and may help in the development of therapeutic strategies in ChC patients.

Risk factors for common mental disorders in health care workers in the city of Diamantina, state of Minas Gerais.

INTRODUCTION: The increased prevalence of mental health symptoms in primary care workers in recent years is a major cause of concern, and highlights the need to identify modifiable risk factors for mental health disorders in this population. OBJECTIVES: To analyze the prevalence of common mental disorders and associated factors in primary care workers in the city of Diamantina, state of Minas Gerais. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, exploratory study involving 203 workers in different sectors of primary health care. Participants completed the Self-Report Questionnaire (20 item version), the Job Stress Scale (JSS), and a form with questions regarding sociodemographic factors, occupational characteristics, lifestyle and habits. RESULTS: The prevalence of common mental disorders in the sample was 20.2%. These disorders were significantly associated (p ≤ 0.05) with younger age, poor self-assessed health, poor sleep quality and physically demanding work. CONCLUSIONS: Poor working conditions may directly and indirectly affect the occurrence of mental health disorders by influencing lifestyle and habits. The restructuring of organizational norms, together with worker support policies, may positively contribute to the mental health of workers.

Differences in health-related quality of life in patients with mild and severe chronic venous insufficiency: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) has a broad spectrum of clinical expression, ranging from mild to severe cases, which negatively impacts the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, the comparison in HRQoL between mild and severe CVI has not yet been systematically discussed, which could assist in the adoption of preventive strategies METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted (protocol register https://osf.io/mr4aj/) following a search of the MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, LILACS, and Scopus databases, using the terms related to CVI and HRQoL. Observational studies that assessed the HRQoL in individuals with CVI in different degrees of severity were included, without date restriction RESULTS: We retrieved 4750 titles and abstracts and 9 were included in this review. The HRQoL was worse in patients with severe CVI compared to mild patients at Short-form of Health Survey (SF-36) (mean difference 11.02, 95% CI from 8.62 to 13.43; p<0.001), Chronic Venous Insufficiency Quality Of Life Questionnaire (CIVIQ-14) (mean difference 13.07; 95% CI from 11.33 to 14.82; p<0.001) and Aberdeen Varicose Veins Questionnaire (mean difference 7.7; 95% CI: -12.82 to -2.58; p=0.003), especially in the physical domains. There was no difference in the HRQoL between severe and mild patients at CIVIQ-20 (p=0.09) CONCLUSION: The HRQoL was worse in the physical domains in patients with severe CVI when compared to mild patients. However, the heterogeneity of the results was high and the data should be interpreted with caution.