Cardiac Rehabilitation And Quality Of Life Scores

MLHFQ–Short Form Calculator

Clinical calculation support · Verify results before clinical use

Patient-reported impact

Use the same response reference for every item. Higher item values indicate greater reported impact.

— Score / 20

Shortness of breath

How much breathlessness affects usual activities or daily life.

0–5 points

Response

Fatigue

How much tiredness or low energy affects usual activities or daily life.

0–5 points

Response

Limitation of physical activity

How much physical activity is limited by the patient’s heart-failure-related condition.

0–5 points

Response

Emotional impact

How much emotional well-being is affected.

0–5 points

Response

Reset

Clinical validity note: The established MLHFQ is a 21-item instrument scored from 0 to 105. This four-item set and the original code’s “minimal/mild/moderate/severe” cutoffs are not established by the cited original MLHFQ publication. Do not use this 0–20 sum as a substitute for the validated questionnaire or as a standalone clinical decision rule.

About the MLHFQ

The Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) is a disease-specific patient-reported outcome measure developed to assess how heart failure affects health-related quality of life.

The established questionnaire contains 21 items, each scored from 0 (no impact) to 5 (very much). Its total score ranges from 0 to 105, with higher scores indicating a greater perceived adverse impact on quality of life. The commonly described physical and emotional domain scores are calculated from specified subsets of the full questionnaire.

How to use this page

Enter a whole-number response from 0 through 5 for each of the four supplied items.
The displayed result is only the arithmetic sum of these four entries, ranging from 0 to 20.
Do not apply severity bands to this shortened set unless a specific short-form version and its scoring interpretation have been validated in the intended population.
Use the official, appropriately licensed MLHFQ materials when a validated MLHFQ assessment is required.

References

Rector TS, Kubo SH, Cohn JN. Patients’ self-assessment of their congestive heart failure: Part 2. Content, reliability and validity of a new measure, the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure questionnaire. Heart Failure. 1987;3:198–209. Original instrument development publication; bibliographic details should be checked against the journal record.

University of Minnesota, Technology Commercialization. Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ). Instrument information and licensing. Official instrument information.

American Thoracic Society. Overview of the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire, including item count, scoring, and original reference. View questionnaire overview.

Clinical disclaimer: This page provides a descriptive calculation and educational information. It is not a diagnostic tool, does not provide a validated short-form MLHFQ interpretation, and must not replace clinical assessment. The MLHFQ is a copyrighted instrument; check the rights holder’s current terms and obtain any required permission before reproducing or deploying questionnaire content.