Central Domains of Quality of Life and Their Associated Factors in Patients With Heart Failure: A Network Analysis Approach.

BACKGROUND

The interactions of quality of life domains and their associated factors remain unclear among patients with heart failure.

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to identify the central domains of quality of life and their associated factors in patients with heart failure.

METHODS

We enrolled 216 patients with heart failure from 3 university-affiliated hospitals in this cross-sectional study. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing physical symptoms, depressive and anxiety symptoms, social network, and quality of life. Network analysis was applied to examine the network structure.

RESULTS

The mean total score for physical quality of life was 42.02 ± 7.99, and for mental quality of life was 47.35 ± 6.70. Physical role functioning (weight = 1.09), mental health (weight = 0.92), and vitality (weight = 0.84) played central domains among network structure of quality of life. Additionally, physical role functioning was most strongly negatively connected to physical symptoms (weight = -0.124), mental health was most strongly negatively connected to anxiety symptoms (weight = -0.328), and vitality was most strongly positively connected to social network (weight = 0.131), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Physical role functioning, mental health, and vitality are the top 3 central quality of life domains in patients with heart failure. This finding underscores the need for healthcare providers to prioritize these central domains. Given that physical symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and social network are associated with central domains of quality of life, alleviating physical and anxiety symptoms, as well as fostering social network may provide an opportunity to improve quality of life in patients with heart failure.