Abstract
Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are relevant independent outcomes in heart failure (HF) care and are predictive of subsequent hospitalization and death in HF. The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) are the 2 most widely adopted PROMs specific to HF. We compared their prognostic abilities in a prospective cohort of HF patients. A prospective cohort of subjects from a single-center registry was analyzed with regard to baseline KCCQ and MLHFQ scores and the outcomes of death, transplant, or left ventricular assist device implantation and hospitalization. A total of 516 subjects with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF) and 151 subjects with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFpEF) were included. Discrimination was assessed using c-statistics based on time-to-event analyses and receiver-operator curves. The additive contribution of MLHFQ was assessed through the change in c-statistic, incremental discrimination index, and category-free net reclassification index. Overall, KCCQ was superior to MLHFQ for predicting death/transplant/ventricular assist device (c-statistic 0.702 [0.666 to 0.738] and 0.658 [0.621 to 0.695] respectively, p value for difference <0.001) and hospitalization (c-statistic 0.640 [0.613 to 0.666] and 0.624 [0.597 to 0.651], respectively, p value for difference 0.022). However, this difference was statistically nonsignificant in the HFpEF group alone. When analyzing the additional prognostic information afforded by adding MLHFQ to KCCQ in the overall, HFrEF, and HFpEF groups there was no significant improvement, although adding KCCQ to MLHFQ did significantly improve risk stratification. Scoring based upon the abbreviated KCCQ-12 did not reduce the prognostic accuracy of KCCQ. In conclusion, KCCQ is more prognostic of death/transplant/left ventricular assist device and hospitalization than MLHFQ in a combined cohort of patients with HFrEF and HFpEF, although the effect in HFpEF was less pronounced. KCCQ should be the preferred PROM for patients with HF if prognostication is a desired goal of using the PROMs.