Quality of life of cardiac patients: a review.

This article reviews the literature relevant to quality of life. It begins with a historical perspective, definition and measurement of quality of life and an overview of quality of life in chronic illness; proceeds to an overview of quality of life of cardiac patients; and concludes with an application to practice. The article includes issues related to measurement relevant to both researchers and consumers of data. In addition, concerns regarding measurement of quality of life components are reviewed and applications of quality of life data using a nursing approach are described.