Health-related quality of life in stable asthma: what are remaining quality of life problems in patients with well-controlled asthma?
We purposed to examine the distribution of the disturbances in the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and to determine the relationship between HRQoL and various clinical parameters in patients with well-controlled asthma according to the guidelines. We enrolled 162 patients with stable asthma, and 113 were defined as well-controlled. HRQoL was measured by the Living with Asthma Questionnaire (LWAQ), the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), and the short-form 36 health survey questionnaire (SF-36), dyspnea by the Medical Research Council (MRC), and psychological status by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). In both stable and well-controlled patients, the frequency distributions showed that the scores on the Avoidance, Distress, and Preoccupation constructs on the LWAQ were widely distributed, whereas the scores on the Vitality and General Health scales on the SF-36 were normally distributed. In patients with well-controlled asthma, the HADS had mild to moderate correlations with all questionnaires. Multiple regression analysis showed that the Anxiety, the MRC scale and the treatment steps accounted for 44% of the variance in the Avoidance on the LWAQ. These results suggest that domains of psychological well-being may continue to be affected even though the asthma patients are well-controlled by guideline criteria.
Nishimura
Koichi
K
Respiratory Division, Kyoto-Katsura Hospital, Kyoto, Japan. koichi-nishimura@nifty.com
Hajiro
Takashi
T
Oga
Toru
T
Tsukino
Mitsuhiro
M
Ikeda
Akihiko
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*