Determinants of quality of life in survivors of cardiac arrest

• Published in: Journal of rehabilitation medicine Vol. 42; no. 6; pp. 553 - 558
• Main Authors: Moulaert, VRMP, Wachelder, EM, Verbunt, JA, Wade, DT, van Heugten, CM
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sweden 01.06.2010
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Adult; Aged; Anxiety-Depression; Cognition Disorders - etiology; Cognitive skills; Cohort Studies; Fatigue; Female; Heart Arrest - complications; Heart Arrest - psychology; Heart Arrest - rehabilitation; Humans; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain - etiology; Male; Middle Aged; Myocardial infarction; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Quality of Life; Retrospective Studies; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - etiology; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 1650-1977; 1651-2081; 1651-2081
• DOI: 10.2340/16501977-0547

To study factors related to quality of life after a hypoxic period due to cardiac arrest. Retrospective cohort study. Eighty-eight survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, admitted to a Dutch academic hospital between 2001 and 2006. Patients received a set of questionnaires at home. The main outcome measures were physical and mental quality of life (Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Health Survey; SF-36). Potential determinants were cognitive complaints, emotional problems depression/anxiety), post-traumatic stress, fatigue, daily functioning and participation in society. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed with physical and mental quality of life as dependent variables. Sixty-three (72%) patients responded. Mean time since cardiac arrest was 36 months (standard deviation (SD) 19). Backward regression analyses showed that physical quality of life was significantly (p < 0.001, adjusted R2 = 0.531) related to cognitive complaints (beta = -0.378), instrumental daily life activities (beta = 0.262), post-traumatic stress (beta = -0.246) and fatigue (beta = -0.226). Mental quality of life was significantly (p < 0.001, adjusted R2 = 0.664) explained by anxiety/depression (beta = -0.609), fatigue (beta = -0.177) and cognitive complaints (beta = -0.175). Quality of life is related to cognitive complaints, fatigue, anxiety/depression, post-traumatic stress and difficulties in daily activities in survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Rehabilitation programmes for this group should specifically address these topics.