Quality of life in patients with intermittent claudication using the World Health Organisation (WHO) questionnaire

Objective: to assess quality of life (QOL) in patients with intermittent claudication. Design: a prospective, open study. Material and method: one hundred and fifty-one consecutive claudicants (100 men, 51 women), and 161 healthy controls (70 men and 91 women) completed an adapted version of the Would Health Organisation Quality of Life Assessment Instrument 100. Results: patients scored significantly worse on the domains Physical health and Level of independence, as well as on the facets Pain and discomfort, Energy and fatigue, Mobility, Activities of daily living, Dependence on medication and treatments, Working capacity, Negative feelings, Recreation and leisure and Overall QOL and general health. Increasing disease to incapacitating claudication affected only the facet Mobility and the domain Level of independence. Conclusion: QOL in patients with intermittent claudication is reduced in many aspects. Where co-morbidity seems to affect QOL strongly, the effect of walking distance on QOL might be small. These findings may justify a reserved attitude towards invasive, even minimally invasive treatment of these patients.