Background: There is limited information on short- and long-term effects of venous thromboembolism (VTE) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the elderly.
Objectives: To assess change in generic HRQoL and disease-specific HRQoL in patients 1 year after the VTE.
Methods: The Age and Thrombosis, Acquired and Genetic risk factors in the elderly (AT-AGE) study is a 2-center case-control study performed in Leiden, the Netherlands, and Vermont, United States, among individuals aged ≥70 years. We measured generic HRQoL using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and disease-specific HRQoL using the Venous Insufficiency Epidemiological and Economic Study-Quality of Life/Symptoms Questionnaire (VEINES-QoL/Sym) and the Pulmonary Embolism-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (PEmb-QoL). All patients completed these questionnaires shortly after their VTE and 1 year later, while controls completed the 36-item Short Form Health Survey questionnaire once. Linear regression for change in quality of life scores was performed and adjusted for potential confounders.
Results: For the current analysis, we included patients who were visited twice ( = 316) and controls ( = 427) with HRQoL information. Mean age of patients and controls was similar (78.8 vs 75.5 years). In patients who survived at least 1 year after the VTE, generic HRQoL improved for both summary scores, but it did not reach the level of the age-matched controls: physical and mental summary scores increased by 5.6 and 5.5 points, respectively, but compared with controls, remained 8.2 and 6.4 points lower. For disease-specific HRQoL, the Pulmonary Embolism-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire overall score decreased from 21.7% to 15.2%, indicating improved HRQoL. Venous Insufficiency Epidemiological and Economic Study-Quality of Life/Symptoms Questionnaire scores did not change over time.
Conclusion: Overall, the quality of life of patients with VTE was worse than that of controls after 1 year, indicating a long-term impact of VTE diagnosis in the elderly.
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10439441 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rpth.2023.102144 | DOI Listing |
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