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Quality Of Life In Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease With Hypoxaemia

Low-income patients with hypoxaemia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, especially those receiving long-term oxygen therapy, experience a markedly impaired health-related quality of life (HRQL).

Dr CA Sant'Anna and colleagues of the Division of Respiratory Diseases, Heart Institute (InCor)/Hospital das Clinicas and the Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, Brazil, carried out a study of 36 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) requiring long-term oxygen therapy. Thirty three control subjects with COPD but no severe hypoxaemia, were enrolled as controls.

The scores on the St George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36-item questionnaire (SF-36) showed that severe impairment was present in the patients. Those on long-term oxygen therapy showed a trend towards worse scores on most dimensions of the SGRQ and SF-36. However, this was only a difference that was statistically significant for the physical functioning and social functioning dimensions of the SF-36.

Dyspnoea, (measured by the baseline dyspnoea index, significantly correlated with all questionnaire domains except the SF-36 pain index.

The researchers concluded: "The HRQL of these low-income patients with COPD was markedly impaired, with more pronounced impairment in those receiving long-term oxygen therapy." They added that the severity of dyspnoea was a significant predictor of various components of quality of life in these patients.
Chest 2003 Jan;123:1:136-41. "Evaluation of Health-Related Quality of Life in Low-Income Patients With COPD Receiving Long-term Oxygen Therapy."

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