[The quality of life of patients with atherosclerosis of lower extremities - 15-year observation]

Abstract

An improving quality of life of a patient seems to be the primary goal of contemporary medicine facing the controversies arising over the duration of persistent therapy, on the one hand, and mounting costs of health care, on the other.

Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the applicability of the SF-36 (Short Form Health Survey) quality-of-life scale to the evaluation of patients with lower-extremity atherosclerosis and to find a link with the new composite endpoint of the study which the quality of life predisposes to.

Materials and methods: The patients operated on for lower-extremity atherosclerosis (y-graft) in one centre in the years 1999-2004 were invited to take part in the study. 64 out of 172 patients joined the study. The study participants were assessed for the quality of life, distance intermittent claudication and lower-extremity pulse presence. Information was also collected on their past medical history and life style. The works of the study group undertaken in 2021 thanks to cooperation with the Ministry of Digitalization allowed to determine deaths among the study participants and link them to the information collected earlier, including the quality of life.

Results: It was confirmed that the SF-36 scale, a tool from the group of general tools, i.e. a tool not dedicated to any particular disease, allows to perfectly assess the quality of life in the studied group of patients. The assessments obtained in the SF-36 subscales were higher for patients with an at least 10-year post-surgery survival. Yet, it is the differences observed in the analysis of the three variables, namely, social functioning (t=3.825, p<0.001), limitations due to emotional problems (t=3.496, p=0.001) and emotional well-being (t+2.179, p=0.033) that are statistically significant.

Conclusions: The results of the study indicate that the main factors differentiating patients who die within 10 years from the surgery and those with an over-10 survival are primarily emotional well-being related issues.

Keywords: intermittent claudication; lower-extremity obstructive atherosclerosis; quality of life; quality of life scales.