Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) assessment using St. George's Respiratory Questionaire in patients with stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

Introduction: Despite being a major cause of chronic morbidity and mortality throughout the world and its relentlessly increasing incidence, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is an often neglected major public health problem in developing countries like Nepal. Though the health expenditure for management of COPD is gradually increasing, little attention has been given to the Quality of Life (QOL), which should be the main target for management of any chronic diseases. This study assesses the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) of stable COPD patients.

Methods: A descriptive observational cross-sectional study of 81 stable COPD patients (who were on regular medication for at least 3 months) was conducted in Respiratory out Patient department of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH). All the subjects were assessed for their HRQOL using the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire for COPD (SGRQ-C). Socio- demographic data regarding the patients were also recorded. Data entry and statistical analysis were performed using the SPSS software, version 18.0.

Results: The mean age of COPD patients was 67 years. Out of the total 81 study cases, 46(56,8%) were female and 67(82.7%) were either current or past smokers, Patients with COPD showed significantly reduced bealth related quality of life (HRQOL) in all domains. Smoking status and baseline hypoxia showed a highly significant association with HROOL, Age, education status, occupation and gender did not affect the QOL scores in a statistically significant manner. Adding methylxanthine to the standard combination inhaler therapy did not show any significant different in term of HRQOL.

Conclusion: This study showed that Nepalese COPD patients had reduced HRQOL Smoking and baseline hypoxia had significant negative impact on HRQOL.