OBJECTIVES : Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) cause abnormal functioning of the heart or blood vessels. The overall rate of deaths in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) due to untreated CVD is about 1.3% per year. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) focuses on specific impact, which is the person’s ability to achieve a fulfilling life. HRQOL questions have become a crucial fundamental issue in public health surveillance and are generally considered valid indicators of unfulfilled needs and intervention outcomes. This study was conducted to apply the EUROQOL-5D in Saudi patients diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases.

METHODS : A quantitative prospective cross-sectional study was conducted. The institutional review board approval was secured in 2018 from King Abdul-Aziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After securing informed consent from patients eligible for the study, sociodemographic factors were collected through medical records and surveys filled out by the patients. A series of student tests for numerical data and chi-square tests for categorical data was performed to explore the significant socioeconomic factors associated with quality of life scores. The R environment for statistical computing and graphics was used for the data analysis.

RESULTS : 146 patients were recruited during the first year. 57% of the study sample were female, and all participants were Saudis. 27.27% were uneducated, 19.8% had elementary school, 16.7% finished the intermediate level, 13.9% had high school, and 22% had a university education or higher. There was a significant difference in the QoL scores for female (M= 71.7, SD= 19.7) and male (M= 77.1, SD= 26.07) conditions; t(144)= 0.76, p = 0.01.

CONCLUSIONS : The findings of this study show that sociodemographic factors affect quality of life. The initial study results indicate a difference in quality of life by gender. Further investigation is needed, particularly into the medications employed for these group of patients.