Validation of the Portuguese version of the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire.

BACKGROUND The Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) is an important measurement instrument for assessing the quality of life of heart failure patients. Despite being largely used within our context, the questionnaire had not yet been translated and validated into the Portuguese language. OBJECTIVE Of this study was to translate and validate the Portuguese version of the MLHFQ for use in heart failure patients. METHODS Forty patients with heart failure (30 men, LVEF 30+/-6%, 55% ischemic etiology, classified as NYHA I to III), clinically stable and on optimized drug therapy underwent maximal cardiopulmonary stress testing to assess their physical capacity. Right after the test, the MLHFQ duly translated into Portuguese was administered by the same investigator. The NYHA functional classification was provided by the medical team. RESULTS The Portuguese version of the MLHFQ had the same structure and metrics of the original version. There was no difficulty in the administration of the questionnaire or in the patient's understanding of the questions. The Portuguese version of the MLHFQ was consistent with peak VO2, duration of the cardiopulmonary test, and NYHA functional classification. There was no difference in the score mean for the questionnaire between the group of patients with ischemic etiology and the group with non-ischemic etiology. CONCLUSION The Portuguese version of the MLHFQ proposed in this study proved to be valid for heart failure patients, and constitutes a new and important instrument for assessing quality of life.