Mental and Physical Health Comparison among Psychologically Distressed Heart Failure Patients in Malaysia

This study aimed to compare the health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) between psychologically distressed Heart Failure (HF) patients with non-distressed patients. A cross sectional survey using HR-QoL questionnaire (SF-36) and the psychological screening questionnaire (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) were administered to 211 patients. Psychologically distressed HF patients show poor HR-QoL with significant impairment in physical health dimension as compared to mental health dimension. Results suggest physical functioning and bodily pain perception subscales were the most impaired in physical health dimension. Hence, these two domains will need to be focused upon in future intervention programs for HF patients.