AIMS
The objective of this study is to provide an overview of the quality of life (QoL) before and after TAVI, of the patients undergoing this procedure, at the U.O.S.D. Hemodynamics of the Chieti. Since QoL is a multidimensional concept, it is studied through items that include physical limitation, the frequency of symptoms, social limits, general well-being and the relative functional status.
METHODS AND RESULTS
The study provided for the administration of a questionnaire: the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire 12 (KCCQ12), in two steps:
1) Administration of the questionnaire by telephone, two weeks before the TAVI;
2)Administration of the questionnaire by telephone two weeks after the TAVI implantation.
The time span of the duration of the study is defined by the period between October 2022 and October 2023. For the study, 76 patients were selected who met the inclusion criteria. The statistical processing of the KCCQ-12 questionnaire data was performed by comparing the averages of the samples observed before and after the TAVI implantation. The statistical analysis was performed with the use of Student ‘s T for paired data, a fundamental tool in comparing the scores of the averages obtained from each domain present in KCCQ12.
We can say with a 95% confidence interval that patients before implantation have an average score lower than the post-implantation score. Based on the analysis carried out, we can say that the quality of life has improved in patients who have performed TAVI in a statistically significant way.
CONCLUSIONS
The study focuses on changes in quality of life after the TAVI procedure, a topic that is gaining increasing importance in addition to standard clinical goals, such as survival and the NYHA functional class. The objective improvement of the quality of life is perceived already two weeks after the treatment, at the same time determining an indirect benefit in terms of economic and social costs.In conclusion, we can say that patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis who underwent TAVI, analyzed with this study, found an improvement in their quality of life in a short time, infact the minimal invasiveness of the procedure, is able to minimize the time postoperative recovery, the time of hospitalization and rehabilitation, necessary instead in the case of more invasive interventions.
