A PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY ON HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE PATIENTS BASED ON SEVERITY

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to measure differences in HRQOL according to gender and severity of COPD.Methods: An observational study was conducted over a period of 9 months. A total of 100 COPD patient’s data were collected regarding patients age, gender, smoking status, and clinical characteristics using an SF-12 health survey questionnaire.Results: The total study population of 100 patients, 78% were men and 22% of women with a mean age of 65.4±13.2 years. The spirometry measurements, the mean forced expiratory volume 1 (FEV1) value was 57.2±10.4. HRQOL correlated significantly with FEV1 values (p=0.9760, p<0.0001). The severity of the disease was mild in 22%, moderate in 41%, severe in 24%, and very severe in 13% of patients. HRQOL was compared between men and women; the mean mental component summary scores were significantly higher in women (65.6±10.7) than in men (59.2±11.6). An inverse significant correlation between HRQOL and degree of dyspnea was observed (p=−0.9218, p<0.0001).Conclusion: The mental health status is essentially higher in women when contrasted with men. HRQOL is impaired, and moreover, it progressively worsens with increasing severity of the disease. This study shows that patients with higher smoking index are having more likelihood of developing the COPD disease and dyspnea has a great impact on HRQOL of patients. Evaluation of COPD patients should not be based only on pulmonary function tests but also by considering and estimating the patient’s HRQOL.