Quality of life is a crucial consideration in managing heart failure, as it affects both prognosis and patient-centered care. Presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2025, data from the HEROES registry assessed 1,397 adults with heart failure using the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-12 (KCCQ-12) overall score.

Patients hospitalized for heart failure had similar quality of life scores compared to those hospitalized for non-cardiac causes, and lower scores than those admitted for other cardiac conditions. Higher New York Heart Association (NYHA) class consistently correlated with poorer KCCQ-12 scores across all domains. Adjusted analyses identified hepatic dysfunction, chronic kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, stroke, asthma, anemia, age, body mass index, gender, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator presence, and hospitalization type as independent determinants of quality of life.

Importantly, each one-point increase in KCCQ-12 overall score was associated with a 2.4% reduction in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 0.976, 95% CI 0.970–0.981, p<0.001), highlighting the prognostic value of patient-reported outcomes. These findings underscore the need to interpret quality of life assessments within the broader context of comorbidities and patient characteristics in heart failure management.