Symptoms, myocardial ischaemia and quality of life in women: Results from the NHLBI-sponsored WISE study

Aims: Our goal was to evaluate health-related quality of life (QOL) in women undergoing angiography for suspected ischaemia. Methods and results: QOL measurements were obtained in 406 women with chest pain symptoms in the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE). QOL measures included a general rating (GR), Duke Activity Status Index (DASI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Higher scores on the GR and DASI are indicative of better QOL and functioning. Higher scores on the BDI indicate more symptoms of depression. Women were stratified by the presence and absence of obstructive angiographic coronary artery disease (CAD) and by the presence and absence of myocardial ischaemia. Women with angiographic obstructive CAD had lower DASI and higher BDI scores compared to women without obstructive CAD (both P<0.05). Stratification by the presence and absence of ischaemia demonstrated that women with ischaemia had better QOL, evidenced by higher GR QOL scores and lower BDI scores (both P<0.05) than women without ischaemia. Symptoms of angina were significant independent predictors of QOL scores (P<0.001). Conclusions: Chest pain symptoms have a significant impact on health-related QOL in women undergoing coronary angiography for suspected myocardial ischaemia and are more important determinants of QOL than the underlying conditions of CAD or ischaemia.