The study of palliative care and its relationship with quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure. in 2014-2015

Chronic heart failure typically results in progressive debilitation, a deteriorating quality of life and distressing symptoms, especially at the end of life. The aim of this study was to investigate palliative care and its relationship with quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure.
In this descriptive analytic study, 100 patients with chronic heart failure were selected from Imam Khomeini hospital of Jiroft in 2014-2015. They were entered in the study with written satisfaction. Biographic information questionnaire, Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ), and patients care questionnaire made by researcher were used that life quality questionnaire was filled in three stages(admission time in the hospital, discharge time and a month later) and palliative care questionnaire was filled in one stage (during discharge time and after receiving health team care). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlations, Mann -Whitney, Kruskal-wallis, Friedman tests and SPSS software at significant level (P Findings showed that the mean score of quality of life in admission time was (77.41±15.08), discharge time (66.96±15.66) and a month later (42.87±22.08). The mean of palliative care hospitalized patients was 68.73±14.59. There was a significant and positive relationship between quality of life and palliative care in the patients. This relationship between quality of life a month later and palliative care was better and more meaningful (r=-0.39) (P=0.0001) than quality of life in discharge time and palliative care (P=0.098) (r=-0.16). However, it was not observed a significant relationship between quality of life in admission time and palliative care in the patients (P=0.191).
Palliative care is delivered rather good based on hospitalized patient's viewpoints. It can be useful to improve quality of life in chronic heart failure patients over time, so that most of patients after discharge of hospital and receiving health team cares found considerable improvement in quality of life. So, applied and continuous palliative care programs are recommended in nursing care programs.