Profile of adults with congenital heart disease having a good, moderate, or poor quality of life : a cluster analytic study

AIMS: The purpose of the study was to assess the profile of adult patients with congenital heart disease who reported a good, moderate, or poor quality of life. METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a large-scale quality-of-life study that included 627 patients. Demographic and clinical variables were retrieved from the medical records and functional status from patient interviews. Overall quality of life was measured using a Linear Analogue Scale. Using K-means cluster analysis, we categorized subjects into a 3-cluster solution: good, moderate, or poor quality of life. RESULTS: Four hundred ninety patients (78.1%) clustered into the good quality-of-life category; 126 patients (20.1%) clustered into the moderate quality-of-life category; and 11 patients (1.8%) clustered into the poor quality-of-life category. Poorer quality of life was associated with lower educational level, unemployment or disability, associated syndromes, instability of the heart disease, and a poorer functional status. CONCLUSION: Over three-quarters of the patients had a good quality of life, whereas only a small proportion had a poor quality of life. Specific demographic and clinical characteristics associated with a poor quality of life could assists in identifying patients at risk for developing a poor quality of life.