Association between quality of life and prognosis of candidate patients for heart transplantation: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: to verify the association between the prognostic scores and the quality of life of candidates for heart transplantation. METHOD: a descriptive cross-sectional study with a convenience sample of 32 outpatients applying to heart transplantation. The prognosis was rated by the Heart Failure Survival Score (HFSS) and the Seattle Heart Failure Model (SHFM); and the quality of life by the Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) and the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ). The Pearson correlation test was applied. RESULTS: the correlations found between general quality of life scores and prognostic scores were (HFSS/MLHFQ r = 0.21), (SHFM/MLHFQ r = 0.09), (HFSS/KCCQ r = -0.02), (SHFM/KCCQ r = -0.20). CONCLUSION: the weak correlation between the prognostic and quality of life scores suggests a lack of association between the measures, i.e., worse prognosis does not mean worse quality of life and the same statement is true in the opposite direction.