QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG YOUNG ADULT PATIENTS WITH CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain a leading cause of premature mortality and disability globally, including in Kazakhstan. Recently, CVD has shown a concerning trend toward affecting younger populations. OBJECTIVE: To assess the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of young adult patients (aged 25-44) with cardiovascular diseases. METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 294 patients diagnosed with Arterial Hypertension (AH) as the primary cardiovascular condition, with a proportion presenting additional comorbid diagnoses (IHD or CHF). Data were collected using the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and analyzed with SPSS 25.0. QoL scores were compared across gender, marital status, educational level, and employment status using appropriate statistical tests (Student's t-test, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis). Statistical significance was defined as p<0.05. RESULTS: The average age of participants was 38.4±5.2 years; 64.3% were women. Men reported significantly higher QoL scores than women in most SF-36 domains, particularly physical functioning, bodily pain, vitality, and social functioning (p<0.05). Employment status was significantly associated with QoL: workers and entrepreneurs had higher QoL scores, while retirees and the unemployed had the lowest (p<0.05). As this is a cross-sectional study, causal direction cannot be confirmed. No significant differences were found based on marital or educational status. Physical health scores consistently exceeded mental health scores across all groups. CONCLUSION: The study highlights gender and employment status as significant factors associated with QoL in young adults with CVD in Kazakhstan. The findings emphasize the need for targeted health and social interventions to improve QoL and reduce the burden of CVD in the working-age population.