The Impact of Cardiomyopathy on Patients' Daily Functioning

Author(s): Wojciech Krzy?anowski, Maciej Ku?mierczyk, Jakub M?o?niak, Robert Morawiec, Agata Tymi?ska, Agata Galas, Katarzyna Byczkowska, Piotr Hamala, Iwona Gorczyca-G?owacka, Anna Furman-Niedziejko, Dominika Klimczak-Tomaniak, Agnieszka Major, Adrian Stefa?ski, Witold Furmanek, Marcin Grabowski

Cardiomyopathy is a disease leading to heart failure, and consequently, to a deterioration in the quality of life of patients. Scales such as VAS and KCCQ-12 can facilitate proper management of patients diagnosed with this disease. In our study, we analyzed 398 patients selected from the HEROES cohort. This database was created thanks to the cooperation of specialist centers in Poland and allowed for the division of patients based on many factors, such as etiology, the scale of discomfort or problems with physical activity. In almost half of the patients (47.74%), the factor causing the disease could not be determined. The most common type of cardiomyopathy diagnosed was arrhythmic cardiomyopathy (38.44%). Patients were analyzed and grouped according to their quality of life and perceived pain and discomfort on the VAS and KCCQ-12 scales. We then compared the results according to the etiology of the disease. Our studies showed the need to deepen diagnostic methods in cardiomyopathy, especially in infectious cardiomyopathy and hereditary cardiomyopathy. There is also a need for further research on the widespread arrhythmic cardiomyopathy in order to understand its progressive progression and optimize the procedure in its treatment. Both scales we used proved to be helpful in analysis of the patients' condition and can be used to provide them with efficient help, for example in the psychological aspect. In the treatment of patients with cardiomyopathy, it is worth paying attention to improving the quality of life of patients and striving to reduce the symptoms associated with the disease.