Quality of life and health status after percutaneous coronary intervention in stable angina patients

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) are associated with quality of life (QoL) and health status improvements in stable angina patients. There are few studies assessing the magnitude of this effect and its predictors in contemporary daily practice. METHODS: Prospective cohort study with stable angina patients submitted to PCI in a tertiary interventional cardiology center. The clinical characteristics and the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) were assessed before PCI, and patients were followed-up for 1 year. Mixed linear regression and ANOVA were used to compare SAQ indices, and multivariate analysis to identify predictors of QoL improvement. RESULTS: Between September 2006 and May 2007, 110 patients were included. The mean age of the study population was 62.8 ± 8.7 years, and 62% of the patients were of the male gender. Diabetes mellitus was present in 29%, arterial hypertension in 82%, previous myocardial infarction in 32%, and previous PCI in 29%. Before PCI, only 5% of the patients were free of angina, and this rate improved to 68% in the one-year followup (P < 0.001). There was improvement in all SAQ scales in the one-year followup, which was already shown in the 6-month assessment (P < 0.0001). Quality of life before the procedure was the main predictor of QoL improvement by multivariate analysis (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with stable angina submitted to PCI in the real-world practice present significant improvement in one-year health status, as assessed by the SAQ. Quality of life before the procedure is the main determinant of improvement in QoL.