Assessment of quality of life in COPD patients with comorbidities

Abstract

Introduction. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) continues to be one of the leading causes of death and health-care cost worldwide. The majority of patients have at least one comorbid condition of clinical significance. Aim of study. Study of comorbidities in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Methods and materials. The study was conducted in 75 patients with COPD. Comorbidities were assessed by Charlson comorbidity index (CCI). Health-related quality of life was assessed by the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ), COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). Spirometric data were analyzed (FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC). Results. 75 COPD patients were studied, mean age was 59.2±6.5 years, mean FEV1, % was 36.6±13.3%. Patients across all stages of the GOLD classification had similar age and pack/years (p>0.01). Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) had a moderate negative correlation with 6MWD (r=-0.39, p<0.01) and absence correlation with the rate of exacerbations (r=0.15, p=0.01). CCI had a moderate correlation with SGRQ activity (r=0.39, p<0.01), impact (r=0.38, p<0.001) and total (r=0.38, p<0.001) scores. Questionnaires for assessing the quality of life when applied to assess the risk of comorbidities showed unsatisfactory discriminatory power (SGRQ AUC - 0.4, CCQ AUC - 0.44 and CAT AUC - 0.39). Conclusion. COPD is frequently associated with other diseases. Comorbidities have a greater negative impact on COPD patients in terms of quality of life. HRQL questionnaires, when applied to assess the risk of comorbidities showed unsatisfactory discriminatory power.