Health-related quality of life in patients with Chagas disease: a review of the evidence

Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical

Souza, Aline Cristina¹  Costa, Henrique Silveira¹  Rocha, Manoel Otávio da Costa¹  Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil¹  Lima, Márcia Maria Oliveira¹  Nunes, Maria Carmo Pereira¹  Sousa, Giovane Rodrigo¹  Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, Diamantina, Brazil¹ 

关键词: Chagas disease;    Quality of life;    Health-related quality of life;    Cardiomyopathy;    Determining factors;   

DOI  :  10.1590/0037-8682-0244-2014

学科分类：农业科学（综合）

来源: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical

【 摘 要 】

Chagas disease (ChD), a neglected tropical disease caused by infection with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), remains a serious public health issue in Latin America and is an emerging disease in several non-endemic countries, where knowledge of the condition and experience with its clinical management are limited. Regionally, the disease is the major cause of disability secondary to tropical diseases in young adults. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) impairment is common in patients with ChD, especially in those with Chagas dilated cardiomyopathy, the most severe manifestation of the disease, which frequently leads to heart failure. The aim of this review was to conduct a literature search for studies that have evaluated the determining factors of HRQoL in ChD patients. We included cross-sectional, case-control, cohort, and experimental studies, as well as clinical trials that evaluated the HRQoL in ChD patients aged 18 to 60 years and are presenting an explicit description of statistical analysis. Using a combination of keywords based on Descriptors in Health Sciences (DeCS) and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) for searches in PubMed and the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), 148 studies were found. After exclusions, 12 studies were selected for analysis. Three main findings were extracted from these studies: 1) cardiac involvement is associated with a worse HRQoL in ChD patients; 2) HRQoL is associated with the patients' functional capacity; and 3) simple and inexpensive therapeutic measures are effective for improving HRQoL in ChD patients. Hence, ChD patients' functional capacity, the effectiveness of non-surgical conservative treatment, and cardiac involvement are important determining factors for the HRQoL in ChD patients.Key words: Chagas disease; Quality of life; Health-related quality of life; Cardiomyopathy; Determining factors

【 授权许可】

Unknown