Health-related quality of life in outpatients with COPD in daily practice: the VICE Spanish Study.
BACKGROUND
The objective of this study was to measure health-related quality of life (HRQL) in outpatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to assess differences in HRQL according to age, gender, and severity of COPD.


METHODS
A total of 9405 patients (79% men, mean age 68 years) participated in a cross-sectional study. HRQL was measured with the Short Form 12 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-12). Severity of COPD was graded into three levels according to forced expiratory volume in one second value.


RESULTS
COPD severity was mild in 33.8% of cases, moderate in 49.3% and severe in 16.8%. The mean physical component summary (PCS-12) and mental component summary (MCS-12) scores were 36.8 +/- 10.4 and 47.2 +/- 11.2, respectively. General health and physical functioning domains were those with the lowest scores. The mean MCS-12 scores were significantly higher in men (47.9 +/- 10.9) than in women (44.1 +/- 11.8) (P < 0.001). Patients older than 60 years rated HRQL worse than patients aged 40-59 years. There were statistically significant differences according to severity of disease in the mean scores of all domains of the PCS-12 and MCS-12 scales.


CONCLUSIONS
The present findings show the influence of female gender, older age and moderate-to-severe of airflow limitation on HRQL in outpatients with COPD attended in daily practice.
Martín
Antonio
A
Medical Department, Pfizer, Madrid, Spain. antonio.martin@pfizer.com
Rodríguez-González Moro
José M
JM
Izquierdo
José L
JL
Gobartt
Elena
E
de Lucas
Pilar
P
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D015272:Pulmonary Medicine; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome