INTRODUCTION: Although multi-item health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instruments provide prognostic information, they are rarely used in routine clinical practice.

AIM: To examine whether a single question about global perceived health (GPH) was a prognostic indicator of cardiovascular (CV) mortality over 10 years of follow-up in elderly patients with possible heart failure (HF) in primary care.

METHOD: GPH was measured using the first question on the Short-Form-36 concerning current health status. Of the 510 patients who underwent baseline evaluation, 448 patients were included.

RESULTS: Cox proportional regression hazard analysis controlled for age, sex, NYHA class, diabetes, ischaemic heart disease, left ventricular ejection fraction and B-type natriuretic peptide plasma concentrations, showed that patients with GPH rated as "poor" or "good" were at four (HR 4.1 CI 95% 1.8-9.4) and three times (HR 3.4 CI 95% 1.4-7.8) the risk of CV mortality, respectively.

CONCLUSION: GPH is an independent predictor of CV mortality in elderly patients with possible HF. As a complement to clinical factors when evaluating severity of HF, GPH could be an important tool for identifying patients at risk of adverse CV events and in need of improved treatment.