Comparison of quality of life measures in heart failure.

Background: Although numerous health-related quality-of-life instruments are available to measure patients' quality of life, few studies have compared these measures directly to determine how they function in the same group of patients.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to empirically compare psychometric properties of the Chronic Heart Failure Questionnaire (CHQ), the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (LHFQ), and the General Health Survey Short-form-12 (SF-12).

Sample: A convenience sample of 211 patients with heart failure completed baseline questionnaires; 165 patients completed the entire 26-week study.

Discriminant properties of commonly used quality of life measures in heart failure.

Health-related quality of life (HRQL) instruments have been used to measure HRQL in heart failure patients, but how different instruments compare in the same groups of patients is not known. The purpose of this study was to compare the reliability and validity of three HRQL measures in 211 heart failure patients recruited from clinics affiliated with an urban hospital. Two disease-specific instruments, the chronic heart failure questionnaire (CHQ) and the living with heart failure questionnaire (LHFQ), and one generic instrument, the short-form 12 (SF-12), were administered.