Background and Objective : Several study show that health related quality of life in heart failure patients is significantly impacted by disease. The aim of the present study was to determine quality of life and some related factors in males with heart failure.
Material and Methods : This is a descriptive-analytical study conducted on 100 males with systolic heart failure in Karaj and Shahriar social security hospitals of Alborz province in 2010. Data was collected through convenience sampling and interview.The instruments were demographic data sheet and MLHFQ (Minnesota Living with Heart Failure) Questionnaire. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics (frequency distribution, mean, standard deviation) and independent T- test, Anova and Pearson correlation coefficient(p<0.05).
Results: The findings indicat that the mean score of quality of life is 41.61 ± 21.30 51% of males quality of life is poor, 26% moderate and 23% good. There is significant positive correlation between quality of life and age (p<0.001), and negative correlation between Qol and ejection fraction (p=0.006) and hemoglobin level (p<0.001). Statistical significant difference is found between quality of life and education level (p=0.001), economic status (p=0.010), cigarette smoking (p=0.031), asthma (p=0.022), use of digoxin (p=0.040), angiotensin receptor blocker (p=0.035) and Spironolactone (p=0.002).
Conclusion: This study indicates that males with systolic heart failure have poor quality of life. The nurse can help to improve quality of life by performing appropriate intervention teaching patients about self-care intervention and monitoring side effects of treatment.
