02493nas a2200253   4500000000100000008004100001653002000042653003500062653002400097653001900121653001900140100001300159700001300172700001300185700001400198700001300212700001900225245009400244856007300338300001000411490000700421520179700428022001402225       2015                            d10aQuality of Life10aHealth-related quality of life10aDetermining factors10aChagas disease10aCardiomyopathy1 aSousa GR1 aCosta HS1 aSouza AC1 aNunes MCP1 aLima MMO1 aCosta Rocha MO00aHealth-related quality of life in patients with Chagas disease: a review of the evidence.  uhttp://www.scielo.br/pdf/rsbmt/v48n2/0037-8682-rsbmt-48-02-00121.pdf  a121-80 v483 a<p>Chagas disease (ChD), a neglected tropical disease caused by infection with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), remains a serious public health issue in Latin America and is an emerging disease in several non-endemic countries, where knowledge of the condition and experience with its clinical management are limited. Regionally, the disease is the major cause of disability secondary to tropical diseases in young adults. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) impairment is common in patients with ChD, especially in those with Chagas dilated cardiomyopathy, the most severe manifestation of the disease, which frequently leads to heart failure. The aim of this review was to conduct a literature search for studies that have evaluated the determining factors of HRQoL in ChD patients. We included cross-sectional, case-control, cohort, and experimental studies, as well as clinical trials that evaluated the HRQoL in ChD patients aged 18 to 60 years and are presenting an explicit description of statistical analysis. Using a combination of keywords based on Descriptors in Health Sciences (DeCS) and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) for searches in PubMed and the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), 148 studies were found. After exclusions, 12 studies were selected for analysis. Three main findings were extracted from these studies: 1) cardiac involvement is associated with a worse HRQoL in ChD patients; 2) HRQoL is associated with the patients' functional capacity; and 3) simple and inexpensive therapeutic measures are effective for improving HRQoL in ChD patients. Hence, ChD patients' functional capacity, the effectiveness of non-surgical conservative treatment, and cardiac involvement are important determining factors for the HRQoL in ChD patients.</p>
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