Chagas disease and health-related quality of life in pacemaker patients: A cross-sectional analysis using the AQUAREL questionnaire

Background Pacemakers (PMs) are crucial for treating symptomatic bradyarrhythmias and improving patient health-related quality of life (HRQoL). While Chagas disease (ChD) is known to impair HRQoL, its specific impact on PM recipients, as measured by the AQUAREL questionnaire, is not well understood. This study aimed to compare HRQoL between pacemaker patients with and without ChD. Methods This cross-sectional study included 57 adult patients with PM (29 with ChD and 28 without). HRQoL was evaluated using the AQUAREL questionnaire, which assesses three domains: Chest Discomfort, Arrhythmia, and Dyspnea. We used multivariate inflated beta regression models, adjusting for clinical and demographic covariates, to analyze the data. Results Participants with ChD (median age 64 years, interquartile range [IQR], 56–72 years) reported significantly worse HRQoL than those without ChD (median age 57 years, IQR, 53–69 years). After multivariate adjustment, ChD remained significantly associated with poorer HRQoL scores in all domains: Chest discomfort (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.59; p = . 044), Arrhythmia (adj. OR 0.38; p = . 004), and Dyspnea (adj. OR 0.61; p = . 049). An OR < 1 indicates worse outcomes for the ChD group. Conclusions ChD is independently associated with a significantly poorer perception of HRQoL in pacemaker patients compared to those without ChD. This impairment spans the critical domains of chest discomfort, arrhythmia, and dyspnea, highlighting the distinct health burden imposed by ChD in this patient population.