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How do patients with advanced heart failure (HF) view the trade-offs between survival and quality of life (QOL)? In an ancillary study of 404 hospitalized patients with advanced HF who were enrolled in a randomized trial, researchers assessed patient preferences with “time trade-off” questions that were asked at baseline and at 1, 2, 3, and 6 months after enrollment. Patients were asked whether they would prefer to live 2 years in their current states of health or to live for various shorter periods of time in excellent health. HF symptoms and QOL were assessed periodically.
Willingness to trade survival time for better health was bimodal at baseline: 50% of patients were not willing to trade any survival time for better QOL, whereas 28% wer…