Europace Advance Access originally published online on February 7, 2006
Europace 2006 8(3):168-174; doi:10.1093/europace/euj052
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ICDS
Health-related quality of life of patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators compared with that of pacemaker recipients
1 Department of MedicineLandspitali University HospitalHringbraut, 101 Reykjavik Iceland ; 2 Department of PsychiatryLandspitali University HospitalHringbraut, 101 Reykjavik Iceland ; 3 Department of Cardiothoracic SurgeryLandspitali University HospitalHringbraut, 101 Reykjavik Iceland ; 4 Department of AnthropologyUniversity of IcelandSudurgata, 101 Reykjavik Iceland
Aims Studies indicate a poorer quality of life (QoL) for implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) patients than for the general population. However, studies comparing the QoL of ICD patients with that of patients with other implantable cardiac devices are scarce. We hypothesized that ICD patients had a poorer QoL than pacemaker patients.
Methods and results All ICD patients living in Iceland at the beginning of 2002 (44 subjects), and a comparison group of 81 randomly selected patients with pacemakers were invited to participate. The Icelandic Quality of Life Questionnaire (IQL), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were submitted to measure QoL, psychiatric distress, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. The ICD and pacemaker groups did not differ on IQL, BAI, BDI, or GHQ scores. ICD patients were as a group more fearful of death (P=0.056) and showed more concerns about returning to work (P=0.072), although these items fell just short of statistical significance.
Conclusion Contrary to our expectations, ICD patients had a comparable QoL with pacemaker recipients and were not more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, or general psychiatric distress. These findings are encouraging in view of expanding ICD indications.
Key Words: Anxiety, Depression, Implantable cardioverter defibrillators, Pacemakers, Quality of life
* Corresponding author. Tel: +354 543 1000; fax: +354 543 6467. E-mail address: davidar{at}landspitali.is
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