[Quality of life of patients with myocardial ischemia]

In this work we intend to determine the variations produced on the quality of life observed and perceived, in the patients with ischemic cardiopathy (IC) whose severe process was treated in the Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital General of Albacete between January and July 1993. A transversal descriptive study on a population of 117 cases was designed. 19 variables were defined, and a summary number scale was designed to determine the quality of life globally. In the results obtained after correcting the initial scale, as it was excessively discriminatory, we found that 47.7% of the individuals suffer a deterioration of their quality of life observed after suffering an IC, 55.4% remain the same, and 2.9% improve. According to the modifications in the quality of life perceived by the patients and interviewers, 24.3% of the first ones show a deterioration in front of 22.4% perceived by the second ones. To conclude we can say that the suffering of an IC limits considerably many aspects of their quality of life, there is enough discrepancy between the quality of life observed and the one perceived.