Assessing the quality of life in patients with complex chronic conditions: Cronimad study

People's life expectancy has increased significantly in the past few decades, which has been associated with an increased prevalence of chronic diseases. Chronic-complex patients (CCP), including those characterized as polypathological patients (PPP), are now the majority among chronic patients and are considered a priority group in healthcare settings. This study aimed to determine the health-related quality of life (QoL) of Spanish CCP and its association with sociodemographic, clinical and functional variables and cognitive status.

Patients identified as CCP or PPP from six hospitals in the Community of Madrid were included. The primary endpoint was to determine the QoL of CCP/PPP. To do so, patients were asked to complete the EuroQol questionnaire that included the visual analog scale (EQ-VAS), and the questionnaire with 5 dimensions and 5 levels (EQ-5D-5 L). Several socio-demographic/health-related variables were further evaluated and correlated with QoL.

A total of 128 CCP/PPP were included. A median EQ-VAS score of 60.0 [45.0, 80.0, and 0.64 [0.40, 0.79] on the EQ-5D-5 L Index were observed. Moderate to severe pain, functional impairment, gait disorders, and malnutrition were independently associated with poorer QoL when using the EQ-5D-5 L scale, and with the last two variables (gait disorders and malnutrition) when using the EQ-VAS scale.

The present study highlights the need for better strategies to qualify and validate the QoL in this specific group of patients. Given the small sample of respondents, the present findings should be considered preliminary and only for hypothesis generation. Nevertheless, it further sheds some light on the different factors that should be considered, not only to stratify patients at varying levels of QoL but also to modulate the life quality of CCP/PPP in daily care setting.

Not applicable.