OBJECTIVES: Assess the impact of sacubitril/valsartan on the quality of life (QoL) of heart failure (HF) patients in Portugal.

METHODS: Data from a prospective cohort of patients followed in a Portuguese HF clinic were analysed. QoL was assessed by the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) administered at each medical visit. KCCQ scores in percentage range from 0 to 100, with higher scores meaning better QoL.

Included patients had a diagnosis of HF, started sacubitril/valsartan between Nov/2017-Oct/2019 and had at least one KCCQ assessment at any time point during the first year of sacubitril/valsartan treatment.

A linear mixed-effects model was used to estimate the mean KCCQ score and mean change from baseline at each visit. The proportion of patients with clinically meaningful improvements in KCCQ score, defined as an increment of at least five points, and stable patients, defined as either an increase or decrease below five points, were also computed.

RESULTS: Eighty patients met inclusion criteria and were analysed. The mean age of patients was 72.1 (standard deviation [SD]: 10.7) years and the majority were male (70.0%). Most patients had hypertension (66.2%), 47.5% had atrial fibrillation and 36.2% diabetes. The mean baseline left ventricular ejection fraction was 32.1% (SD:6.5) and 61.0% were New York Heart Association (NYHA) II patients. Over 12 months of follow-up, the mean estimated KCCQ score showed a trend towards improvement, from 70.1, at baseline, to 72.9 at 12 months. Mean change from baseline at 12 months was 2.4 (standard error: 4.6). Among patients with available data at 12 months, 44.4% showed a clinically meaningful improvement compared with baseline, while 33.3% had stable KCCQ scores.

CONCLUSIONS: Sacubitril/valsartan is suggested to generate considerable improvements in quality of life of HF patients in a real-world setting in Portugal. These results reinforce the positive trends already observed in clinical trials.