Exercise oscillatory ventilation reflects diminished quality of life and perceived functional capacity in patients with heart failure.

摘要

A significant number ofpatients with heart failure (HF) presentwith both diminished self-reported quality of life and perceived functional capacity. The Minnesota Living with HF Questionnaire (MLWHFQ) and the Duke Activity Status Index -(DASI) are two validated and reliable tools that have been frequently used to quantify quality of life and functional capacity in this chronic disease population [1,2]. Previous research by our group has demonstrated that peak oxygen consumption (VO_2) is significantly correlated with both the MLWHFQ and DASI in HF patients [3,4]. Conversely, the VE/VC0_2 slope, an established marker of ventilatory efficiency in HF patients, is not associated with quality of life [4] and seemingly no information is available on its relationship to perceived functional capacity. Exercise oscillatory ventilation (EOV) has garnered great attention in recent years, demonstrating a robust ability to predict increased risk for adverse events and reflect disease severity [5,6]. To our knowledge, we are unaware of any previous investigation that has assessed the relationship between EOV and self-reported quality of life or perceived functional capacity, which is the purpose of the present study.