Conclusions
Our findings indicate that quality of life is greatly impaired in
congestive heart failure. All SF-36 scales decreased with
NYHA functional class. In addition, patients with a more
severe impairment of functional capacity—as assessed by the
six minute walk test and peak oxygen uptake—had in general
significantly lower SF-36 values. However, functional indices
only partly explained the impairment in quality of life (by a
maximum of 51% in one scale). Left ventricular ejection fraction
and quality of life appear to be completely dissociated in