Week 11- The Impact of Chronic Health Conditions on HRQOL

Question 1

The impact of chronic diseases on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of Chinese patients in primary care: Summary

Answer 1

• Aim= to assess the impact of chronic diseases on the HRQOL of Chinese patients in a primary care clinic in Hong Kong.
• A cross-sectional case–control study was carried out on 760 adult Chinese patients of a family medicine clinic in Hong Kong.
• The impact of each chronic disease on HRQOL was measured in terms of the likelihood of sub-optimal functioning or health instead of numerical scores used by many other studies.

Question 2

The impact of chronic diseases on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of Chinese patients in primary care: Tools Used

Answer 2

Dartmouth COOP Functional Health Assessment Charts/WONCA (COOP/WONCA charts)

Question 3

The impact of chronic diseases on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of Chinese patients in primary care: Depression

Answer 3

The most disabling disease affecting not only the psychological well-being but also the physical and social functioning of the person.

Question 4

The impact of chronic diseases on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of Chinese patients in primary care:
Osteoarthritis

Answer 4

Patients seemed to perceive OA of the knee to be more disabling than hypertension, diabetes mellitus and heart disease, although these latter three diseases are regarded as the most important chronic diseases by doctors.

Question 5

The impact of chronic diseases on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of Chinese patients in primary care:
Hypertension

Answer 5

• The effects of hypertension on HRQOL reported in the literature are variable.
• A negative effect on physical fitness but a positive effect on feelings.

Question 6

Impact of chronic disease on quality of life among the elderly in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Summary

Answer 6

To assess the impact of chronic disease and the number of diseases on the various aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among the elderly in São Paulo, Brazil.

Question 7

Impact of chronic disease on quality of life among the elderly in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Tools Used

Answer 7

SF-36

Question 8

Impact of chronic disease on quality of life among the elderly in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Stroke

Answer 8

• Individuals with stroke had severely affected, particularly in the role-physical, physical functioning, and general health scales.

Question 9

Impact of chronic disease on quality of life among the elderly in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Osteoporosis

Answer 9

• Osteoporosis is a risk factor for bone fractures, the main cause of morbidity and mortality due to musculoskeletal diseases.
• Mental, social, and emotional aspects among elderly people may also be affected by this disease due to insecurity, fear of falling, and consequently, decreased mobility and increased social impairment.
• Among individuals reporting osteoporosis, 55.7% also reported arthritis/rheumatism/arthrosis and 54.7% reported back-pain, compared to 21.1% and 27.9%, respectively, among elderly without osteoporosis.

Question 10

Impact of chronic disease on quality of life among the elderly in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Mood Disorders

Answer 10

• Impact on mental health and role-emotional
• The damaging effect of mental status was profound, and the fact that mental condition significantly affects bodily pain was noteworthy as well (difference of –18.6 points in the mean score)

Question 11

Impact of chronic disease on quality of life among the elderly in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Diabetes

Answer 11

Lower quality of life scores, particularly on the general health scale

Question 12

Impact of chronic disease on quality of life among the elderly in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Hypertension

Answer 12

Impact on the vitality and bodily pain scales

Question 13

Impact of chronic disease on quality of life among the elderly in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Diabetes and Hypertension

Answer 13

• Diabetes and hypertension were found to negatively affect the general health and vitality scales, which include areas such as energy, fatigue, and self-perception of health.
• This suggests that these diseases may have a negative effect on an individual’s perception of health as well as on his/her perception of will and energy level

Question 14

Impact of chronic disease on quality of life among the elderly in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Arthritis/Rheumatism

Answer 14

Arthritis/rheumatism/arthrosis and back pain had considerable negative effects on the bodily pain scale.

Question 15

The Burden of Cardiovascular Disease in Canada: Summary

Answer 15

• This report updates the death estimates for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Canada and introduces a population-based perspective on disease prevalence and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) burden.
• The Canadian Mortality Database was used to estimate the mortality of men and women in different age groups for the 139 Canadian health regions from 1950 to 1999.

Question 16

The Burden of Cardiovascular Disease in Canada: Tools Used

Answer 16

Heart disease prevalence and its impact on HRQOL were estimated using the 2000–2001 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)

Question 17

The Burden of Cardiovascular Disease in Canada: The Impact

Answer 17

• Women may have had a much lower CVD death rate than men but disease prevalence was similar between the sexes.
• It is important not only to add ‘years to life’ but also to add ‘life to years’, meaning improvements in life expectancy should ideally be accompanied by improvements in HRQOL.
• The mortality burden of CVD depends not only on the prevalence of disease but also on how quickly it progresses to a severe state that can no longer support vital function.
• Primary prevention aims to delay the onset of disease by reducing risk factors such as tobacco use, poor diet, obesity and lack of physical activity.
• Disease treatment aims to improve heart function and slow the progression of disease, which in turn improves survival, symptoms, functional limitations and other aspects of HRQOL.