Correlates of quality of life in patients with asthma.
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.
Laforest
Laurent
L
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lyon, Lyon, France.
Pacheco
Yves
Y
Bartsch
Pierre
P
Vincken
Walter
W
Pietri
Guilhem
G
Ernst
Pierre
P
Bérard
Annick
A
Van Ganse
Eric
E
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
D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents