Correlates of mortality in elderly COPD patients: focus on health-related quality of life.
OBJECTIVE
The Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) is widely used as a measure of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with COPD. This study tested whether the SGRQ predicts the survival of patients with COPD.


METHODS
The study recruited 238 patients with COPD who were participants in the multicentre Salute Respiratoria nell'Anziano (Sa.R.A.) study. Patients' sociodemographic, clinical and functional characteristics were assessed and the association between the SGRQ and mortality, corrected for potential confounders, was estimated.


RESULTS
The mean age of study participants was 72.6 years. Over the 5-year observation period there were 88 deaths. After adjustment for potential confounders, the SGRQ score was associated with an increased risk of dying (hazard ratio (HR): 1.22 for four-point increments; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02-1.45). There was no association between mortality and the Symptoms subscale (corrected HR: 1.13; 95% CI: 0.96-1.32), whereas each four-point increment of the Activity (HR: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.00-1.43) and Impact (HR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.03-1.83) subscale scores were associated with increased mortality. Higher FEV(1) relative to predicted (HR: 0.73 for each 5% increment; 95% CI: 0.58-0.91) and better performance at the 6-min walking test relative to predicted (HR: 0.93 for each 5% increment; 95% CI: 0.89-0.97) were associated with lower mortality.


CONCLUSIONS
In elderly COPD patients, the SGRQ can improve prognostic models based on classical indicators of disease severity.
Antonelli-Incalzi
Raffaele
R
Università Campus Biomedico, Rome, Italy.
Pedone
Claudio
C
Scarlata
Simone
S
Battaglia
Salvatore
S
Scichilone
Nicola
N
Forestiere
Francesco
F
Bellia
Vincenzo
V
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000401:mortality*; D011788:Quality of Life; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires