Determinants of HRQoL include the illness or disability itself as well as the type of medical intervention [18]. The main goal of any intervention in CVDs is to improve the patient’s HRQoL by eliminating or reducing the influence of the disease. When constructing a HRQoL study, one should be mindful of whether the measurement is reflective of one patient or groups of patients, and whether the HRQoL measurement expresses a patient’s status from the viewpoint of medical or social expectations.

Several dimensions are included in most studies examining HRQoL in CVDs. The first step is to define the physical, psychological, and social consequences of CVD, and to determine the influence of physical disability on changes to QoL. The second step is to identify individual reactions to disease-related dysfunctional states. Finally, the progress of rehabilitation is measured, with respect to minimizing psychosocial restrictions, and the effects of medical interventions and health education for the patient.

Studies examining HRQoL in CVDs should analyze a series of dimensions (Table 1.2).

QoL studies will continue to develop dynamically despite conceptual difficulties or theoretical uncertainties. The focus of future studies should be to develop QoL models which may shed light on uncertainties connected with research. Future studies will probably be geared towards strengthening basic theoretical concepts and tailoring the definitions used to meet cultural requirements. One may also expect further development of the scales used to measure different dimensions of QoL. This will probably involve connecting the influence of disease and medical interventions with psychosocial determinants and resources from the period preceding changes in health status.

One may expect QoL to be universally applied in everyday clinical practice. It will begin to constitute the basic model for patient interaction and allow for a new quantification of therapeutic success, moving from a purely biological model to a more integrated bio-psycho-social model.