OBJECTIVES: Patients with HF suffer from poor health related quality of life (HRQoL). In this randomized controlled trial we used both generic (SF-36 , HUI Mark 2/3) and disease specific (MLHFQ) measures of HRQoL to determine whether our educational intervention had any impact on these outcomes. METHODS: Patients with HF were stratified by reason for admission and then randomized to receive either usual care (U) or an educational intervention (I). HRQoL was a secondary outcome measure in this trial. All patients were measured at baseline and every three months to one year. RESULTS: In the SF-36 there was a trend at certain visit numbers in physical functioning (p=0.081), role limitation due to physical problems (p=0.032), role limitation due to emotional problems (p=0.068) and energy vitality (p=0.068). There were no differences over time between each arm for the PCS or MCS summary scales. In the HUI the mean utility for Mark 2 increased from 0.53 at baseline to 0.73 at 12 months in the C arm and from 0.62 at baseline to 0.69 in the I arm. For the Mark 3 component the mean utility increased from 0.41 at baseline to 0.72 at one year for the C arm and from 0.40 to 0.62 for the I arm. Overall differences between arms were not evident over one year. The MLHFQ showed differences by visit number (p=0.039) that were not sustained over the duration of the trial. There was an improvement in the scores from baseline to 12 months of 32% in the C arm and 27% in the I arm. CONCLUSIONS: Patients' HRQoL improved over time across all instruments. Since the intervention was only delivered at baseline it may not have been primarily responsible for the improvement in HRQoL we saw.