STUDY OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE WITH REGARD TO THE HEALTH OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE

The study of the quality of life through the patient’s point of view provides important information about the reflection of the disease on his life and social adaptation. The objective of the development is to establish the influence of the chronic ischemic heart disease on the daily routine and the social life of the patients.Methods: The study is of cross-sectional type. It covers 146 patients with chronic ischemic heart disease. A questionnaire has been developed, which includes questions related to the demographic specification of the patients and their social life. Standardized questionnaire EQ-5D for self-assessment of the health-related quality of life has been applied.Results: A significant part of the patients have difficulties in carrying out professional activities or family duties. A low level of coping is found in 32 men (43.8%) and 29 women (39.7%). More than half of the persons aged over 60 have difficulties in the 5 studied areas of quality of life: mobility, self-care, regular activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety. Problems in the field of physical activity were found in 43 men (43.9%) and 55 women (56.1%). A dependency was found between the area of self-service and age (χ2=10.85, p=0.004).Conclusion: The questioned patients give lower assessments of the social life and coping with the daily routine. The screening of the health-related quality of life is important for improvement of the clinical practice and management of the disease. In the sphere of public health, the health-related quality of life data are applied for analysis of the impact of the socially significant diseases on different groups of population. Differentiation of the impacts of such diseases on the patients is the basis of creation of efficient interventions for prophylactics and rehabilitation. The medical specialists may use the results of measurement of quality of life in the clinical practice for improvement of the patients’ healthcare.