Introduction: Heart failure is a debilitating condition that is associated with several burdensome symptoms that impede patients’ quality of life. However, patients’ experience of distressing symptoms and their impacts on their quality of life is not studied in Jordan. Objectives: To assess the severity of distressing symptoms and to assess the relationships between these symptoms and the quality of life among patients with heart failure in Jordan. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. A convenience sampling approach was used to recruit the participants. Heart failure patients (n = 167) who visited the outpatient clinics in three hospitals in Amman between July and November 2021 were included. The Edmonton Symptom Assessment System and Short-Form 36 tool were used. Results: Participants were more likely males with a mean age of 55.2 years (SD = 13.7). The most distressing symptoms among patients with heart failure were tiredness (M = 4.56, SD = 3.24), worse well-being (M = 4.34, SD = 2.52), and drowsiness (M = 3.5, SD = 3.06), respectively. Symptoms burden were negatively associated with the physical and the mental components summary of the quality of life. Pain, tiredness, nausea, loss of appetite, anxiety, and poor well-being were significant predictors of the physical components. The predictors of the mental components were tiredness, nausea, loss of appetite, and anxiety. Conclusions: This study revealed that patients with heart failure facing significant symptom burden. The patients showed inadequate quality of life in both physical and mental components that were inversely associated with symptom burden. Given the debilitating effects of symptom burden on heart failure patients’ quality of life, therefore, symptom assessment and management have to be a priority.

Background: Palliative care (PC) is integral to improving the quality of life and mitigating suffering for individuals with serious illnesses. This interdisciplinary-led study aims to comprehensively evaluate the prevalence of distressing problems and unmet needs among both cancer and non-cancer chronic disease patients and explore their need for PC. Methods: A cross-sectional, comparative, and multicenter design was conducted, involving 458 patients from eight hospitals, utilizing a self-reported Problems and Needs in Palliative Care-sv questionnaire. Results: The study included 276 (60.3%) patients with cancer and 182 (39.7%) with non-cancer chronic diseases. Most were 45-64 years old (n = 216, 47.2%). Patients with cancer reported a higher prevalence of physical symptoms, notably pain (n = 240, 87%) and anorexia (n = 192, 69.6%), while non-cancer patients faced more social challenges, including issues in companion relationships (n = 77, 42.3%) and discussing their disease with life companion (n = 78, 42.9%). Unmet needs were prevalent in both groups, with cancer patients having an average of 75.6% (n = 120) unmet needs, predominantly in the information (n = 145, 91.75%) and spiritual domains (n = 123, 77.8%). Non-cancer patients emphasized financial (n = 71, 66.6%) and autonomy (n = 59, 55.0%) problems. Moreover, patients in both groups with severe Charlson Comorbidity Index scores demonstrated significantly higher PC needs across all health domains. Conclusion: The study highlights the universal demand for comprehensive PC for patients with both cancer and non-cancer chronic diseases. The findings underscore the need for enhanced PC provision, especially for patients with multiple comorbidities. Further research is needed to comprehensively address psychological, social, and spiritual problems in both patient groups.