Both "physiologic" (dual-chamber or atrial only) or ventricular-pacing-only permanent pacemakers provide chronotropic competence, with unknown health-related quality of life (QOL) differences between these options. The QOL studies within the Canadian Trial of Physiologic Pacing were performed to assess whether QOL differences exist in patients randomized to these 2 pacing modes.
Two QOL protocols were performed: 1) a substudy of 269 patients with detailed QOL measures (The Medical Outcomes Study, Short-Form [SF-36], the Pacemaker Syndrome Scale, an activity scale, and a pacemaker-specific scale) at baseline and 6 months after implantation; and 2) a parent study assessment of QOL in 1721 patients with a 12-item QOL instrument package (SF-6, "ladder of life," and pacemaker syndrome scale) given 6 months after implantation only.
In the substudy, pacing was associated with an average significant (P