Quality of Life in Cardiovascular Surgery: Elaboration and Initial Internal Validation of a Quality of Life Questionnaire

OBJECTIVE: Elaboration and internal validation of the Quality of Life in Cardiovascular Surgery (QLCS) questionnaire adapted to the reality of Brazilian cardiovascular surgery. METHODS: Cross-sectional pilot study of a prospective cohort included in the Documentation and Surgical Registry Center (CEDREC) for internal validation of the QLCS questionnaire. Four hundred forty-five patients submitted to cardiovascular surgery and who answered a QLCS questionnaire 30 days after hospital discharge were included. It was applied via telephone. To verify the questions' internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha was used. The total QLCS score was calculated as the sum of 5 questions, ranging from 5 to 25 points. Mann-U-Whitney test was used to relate the symptoms with the quality of life (QoL). Level of significance was 5%. RESULTS: After 30 days of surgery, about 95% of the patients had already returned to normal routine and 19% of them were already performing physical activity. In the evaluation of the QLCS's internal consistency, a Cronbach's alpha of 0.74 was found, suggesting that this was probably an adequate questionnaire to evaluate QoL in this population. In the comparison between the presence and absence of symptoms and the median of QoL, the presence of pain at the incision (P=0.002), chest pain (P<0.001), shortness of breath (P<0.001), and return to physical activity (P<0.001) were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The process of elaboration and validation of questionnaires includes a series of steps. The QLCS questionnaire is probably an adequate tool for the evaluation of QoL in the postoperative patient of cardiovascular surgery, in this first stage of internal validation.