Cognitive Function Does Not Impact Self-reported Health-Related Quality of Life in Heart Failure Patients

Background: Adults with heart failure (HF) often demonstrate impairment across multiple domains of cognitive functioning and report poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Previous researchers have found that cognitive deficits were generally not associated with HRQoL in a carefully evaluated sample. The exception was memory, which was only weakly associated with HRQoL. However, cognitive deficits interfere with self-care and disease self-management, which could be expected to affect HRQoL. Objective: We sought to verify this counterintuitive finding in a large well-characterized sample of HF patients using a well-validated neuropsychological battery. Methods: Participants were 302 adults (63% male) predominately white (72.5%) HF patients (68.7 ± 9.6 years) recruited from 2 medical centers. Self-reported HRQoL was assessed using the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire. Participants completed a neuropsychological battery examining attention, executive function, memory, and visuospatial functioning. Hierarchical multiple linear regression was used for analyses. Results: Mild global cognitive impairment was observed in 29.5% of the sample (Modified Mini-Mental State [3MS] Examination score
Source: Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing - Category: Nursing Tags: ARTICLES: Cognitive Function Source Type: research