Department of Clinical Studies-Philadelphia, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
J Vet Intern Med. 2010 Nov-Dec;24(6):1421-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2010.0583.x. Epub 2010 Aug 24.
Owners' perceptions and priorities regarding quality of life (QoL) are important considerations given the unknown efficacy of many commonly administered medications, stress of hospital visits, difficulties providing home care, and personal choices including euthanasia.
To describe the relative importance of quality versus quantity of life to owners of cats with heart disease.
Two hundred and thirty-nine cats with heart disease.
Prospective questionnaire-based clinical study. Cat owners completed a questionnaire to identify important parameters when assessing their cat's QoL, the relative importance of quality versus quantity of life, and willingness to trade survival time for QoL. Variables associated with these parameters were evaluated with multivariate analyses.
Appetite, owner interaction, sleep patterns, and litterbox habits were deemed important to QoL. Concern over pet suffering was significantly greater than concern over life expectancy. Ninety-three percent of owners were willing to trade survival time for good QoL; 57% of these were willing to trade up to 6 months. On multivariate analysis, the only factor significantly (P=.002) associated with willingness to trade 6 months was study site. Owner concern regarding stress of administering medications at home increased with number and frequency of medications.
These results indicated that QoL is more important to owners of cats with heart disease than longevity. The various priorities and concerns of cat owners should be taken into account in order to provide optimal care.
鉴于许多常用药物的疗效未知、医院就诊的压力、提供家庭护理的困难以及包括安乐死在内的个人选择，主人对生活质量（QoL）的看法和优先事项非常重要。
描述心脏病猫主人对生活质量与数量的相对重要性。
239 只患有心脏病的猫。
前瞻性基于问卷的临床研究。猫主人完成了一份问卷，以确定在评估其猫的 QoL 时重要的参数、生活质量与数量的相对重要性以及是否愿意用生存时间换取 QoL。使用多变量分析评估与这些参数相关的变量。
食欲、主人互动、睡眠模式和猫砂盆习惯被认为对 QoL 很重要。对宠物痛苦的关注明显大于对预期寿命的关注。93%的猫主人愿意用生存时间换取良好的 QoL；其中 57%的人愿意用 6 个月的时间来换取。多变量分析显示，愿意用 6 个月来换取的唯一因素是研究地点（P=.002）。主人对在家中给药的压力的担忧随着药物的数量和频率的增加而增加。
这些结果表明，QoL 对患有心脏病的猫主人比长寿更重要。应该考虑猫主人的各种优先事项和关注点，以提供最佳护理。
