title: Correlates of quality of life in patients with asthma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a major outcome in asthma, but the relationships among HRQOL, characteristics of asthma, type of supervision, and sociodemographic characteristics of patients have not been thoroughly explored.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To identify major correlates of HRQOL in a survey of patients with asthma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with asthma were identified by their usual caregivers, either general practitioners or respiratory physicians. In a standardized interview, data were collected on patients' sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, medical resource use in the past 12 months, and asthma QOL. Intensity of asthma therapy was evaluated from the use of inhaled controllers and oral corticosteroids in the past 12 months, and number of asthma attacks during the same period was used as an indicator of level of asthma symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-nine patients with asthma were identified (median age, 36 years; 62.6% women). In multivariate analysis, major correlates for lower HRQOL scores were having at least 5 asthma attacks and the number of medical visits in the past 12 months (P < .001 for both). Other significant positive associations were unemployment (P = .01) and female sex (P = .05), but not intensity of therapy, age, or type of asthma supervision (general practitioner vs respiratory physician).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this survey, HRQOL scores seem to be primarily related to asthma symptoms, as indicated by the number of attacks experienced by the patients and the frequency of medical contacts in a previous period. The relationships among HRQOL, therapy, and the determinants of control should be investigated in prospective studies.
authors.affiliation: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lyon, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Laforest
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pacheco
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bartsch
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vincken
authors.forename: Guilhem
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pietri
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.forename: Annick
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bérard
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Ganse
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011788:Quality of Life; D012907:Smoking; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents