Health-related quality of life and arrhythmic risk in patients with Brugada syndrome
Keywords:
Brugada syndrome, SF-36, quality of life, HRQoL, arrhythmic riskAbstract
Background: Brugada syndrome (BrS) increases the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). The aim of our study was to assess health related quality of life (HRQoL) in individuals with BrS and to evaluate how clinical characteristics and arrhythmic risk may influence HRQoL.
Methods: We included 70 patients who were divided into three groups: spontaneous or sodium channel blocker test (SCBT) induced type 1 BrS electrocardiogram pattern (T1BrP), negative SCBT and control group. All patients completed the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire and underwent detailed SCD risk stratification.
Results: The HRQoL of patients with T1BrP did not differ compared with those with negative SCBT. Patients in the control group reported feeling nervous more frequently than those in the T1BrP group (3.0 [2.5-3.0] vs. 4.0 [3.0-4.0], p=0.005). The Sieira score correlated with a poorer self-assessment of health (p=0.014, R=0.50), increased limitations in lifting or carrying groceries (p=0.004, R=-0.57) and a stronger agreement with the statement that they expect their health to get worse (p=0.019, R=0.48). Sieira score correlated negatively with Physical Functioning scale (p=0.025, R=-0.47). Among patients with T1BrP, those who experienced syncope, showed lower scores on the General Health scale (51 [27-57] vs. 67 [57-82] points, p=0.032) compared to the remainder.
Conclusions: The diagnosis of BrS, especially among patients at low risk of SCD, does not necessarily significantly affect HRQoL. However, Sieira score correlates significantly with HRQoL indicating that patients with higher clinical risk tend to feel less healthy and more limited in their daily lives.
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