Effect of drug treatment on quality of life in mild to moderate heart failure.

The most frequently reported symptoms in heart failure are fatigue and dyspnoea, which limit exercise tolerance. However, several surveys reveal other changes in physical and psychological well-being which affect the patient's perception of 'quality of life'. The introduction of new treatments for heart failure has stimulated interest in their impact on quality of life. Until recently, attempts to quantify well-being were restricted to assessment of symptoms which affect exercise capacity or classification of the functional capacity of the patient from his ability to perform everyday tasks. Although drug treatment can improve these measures, they are insensitive to change and also provide little information on the more subtle disturbances which patients may perceive as important determinants of their overall well-being. More comprehensive assessments of quality of life have been devised and validated in heart failure. Early results indicate that inotropic drugs such as digoxin and xamoterol can improve these measures. However, at present there is too little information from studies using these questionnaires to compare the wider benefits of individual drug treatments.