Drug therapy and quality of life in angina pectoris

Quality of life is impaired in patients with angina pectoris because of their symptoms, impaired activity, and anxiety. These various factors reduce enjoyment of life, but their components and interrelationships are difficult to measure in the individual. There is no consensus on the best methods of measurement of quality of life; many general instruments have been proposed but none that specifically concern angina pectoris. Despite the absence of such quantitative information, there is no doubt that antianginal drugs benefit the majority of patients and, despite their side effects, advantageously change the relationship between the factors that add up to "quality of life." How the relief of symptoms, both organic and psychologic, interact and how far they are offset by the negative aspects of treatment in the patient with angina pectoris remain to be defined. Past and present trials give encouragement that instruments will be developed that are relevant, valid, reproducible, and sufficiently sensitive to convincingly measure the different impacts on quality of life of the patient with angina pectoris.