Table 3

Cardiovascular diagnosis and risk for poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL) assessed with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 and presented as OR with 95% CI

HRQoL aspects‡Cardiovascular diagnosis*, OR (95% CI)†
No cardiovascular disease
3552 (72%)
Only hypertension
901 (18%)
Only atrial fibrillation
75 (2%)
Only previous myocardial infarction
57 (1%)
Only angina
59 (1%)
Poor global quality of life1.00 (reference)1.24 (0.85 to 1.81)1.06 (0.51 to 2.19)0.89 (0.26 to 3.10)2.09 (0.85 to 5.10)
Poor physical function1.00 (reference)1.33 (0.96 to 1.84)1.97 (0.88 to 4.40)2.37 (1.31 to 4.28)4.83 (2.22 to 10.50)
Poor role function1.00 (reference)1.34 (0.65 to 2.79)8.78 (1.24 to 62.01)2.41 (0.63 to 9.26)Number too small
Poor emotional function1.00 (reference)0.86 (0.60 to 1.23)0.87 (0.36 to 2.10)0.43 (0.11 to 1.71)1.44 (0.55 to 3.78)
Symptomatic fatigue1.00 (reference)1.01 (0.73 to 1.41)1.77 (0.60 to 5.23)0.93 (0.30 to 2.92)1.01 (0.34 to 2.99)
Symptomatic dyspnoea1.00 (reference)1.24 (0.96 to 1.59)1.47 (0.59 to 3.62)1.32 (0.72 to 2.42)6.81 (3.26 to 14.24)
  • Frequency weighted for age and sex to match the national distribution in Sweden.

  • *Cardiovascular diagnosis: Answer ‘Yes’ to written question ‘Have you been diagnosed with the following disease by a physician?’ Due to missing data, the percentages do not add up to 100%. In all, 255 persons had multiple diagnosis and is not included in the analysis above.

  • †Adjusted for age, sex, education, comorbidity, tobacco smoking and physical activity.

  • ‡Poor or symptomatic: At least one response of ‘quite a bit’ or ‘very much’ to an item within a scale (physical, role and emotional function, fatigue and dyspnoea) or at least one response of 1–4 on one of the items in the global quality-of-life scale.