Introduction - Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) has been introduced in several countries to reduce the AAA-related mortality. Although, the awareness of having an AAA and how it influences the individuals’ Quality of life (QOL) has been evaluated since the introduction of the screening programs. Previous research has addressed whether the benefits of screening programs for AAA outweight the impact on QOL, especially for men with small aneurysm <55 mm who are treated conservatively. This study aimed to review, summarise and assess the available evidence regarding the quality of life impact in men undergoing screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm and attending regular follow-ups.

Methods - For this narrative literature review the databases PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were used for searching. The search was performed from April to July 2016, with an update in February to March 2018. The initial results from the search were 128 articles. Duplicates were removed, titles and abstracts were screened, and 22 full-text articles were collected. Based on the inclusion criteria, 11 quantitative studies were included. The quality of the studies was appraised with respective checklists from the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. A narrative synthesis of the included studies was performed.

Results - Inferior quality of life among men with detected AAA was identified compared to those without the diagnosis and the general population in the included studies. The self-perceived health decreased over time for the participants with AAA. Assessments after surgery showed that the participants returned to similar QOL as before the screening. A wide variety of factors regarding the methodologies, designs, measurements, sample sizes, and the time for assessment were noted in the included studies.

Conclusion - Quality of life is an important outcome for AAA screening and studies have been conducted in an attempt to address the imbalance between benefits and harm. However, it is still difficult to draw clear conclusions, possibly due to the heterogeneity of the original studies. Nevertheless, it is important to identify men with AAA who develop conditions influencing their health and quality of life in order to understand their care needs to further support them and improve their situation.