Health-related quality of life in young adults with asthma.
BACKGROUND
The aim was to study health-related quality of life, five years after an intervention study among young adults with asthma.


METHODS
The design was a follow-up study of a cohort of young adults with asthma (n=64) and 248 general population controls. Both groups were investigated at follow-up with a respiratory questionnaire and one generic quality-of-life instrument, and the asthma cohort also completed one-asthma-specific questionnaire. The material was analyzed with multivariate models.


RESULTS
Female gender and low FEV1 at baseline predicted both a decline during follow-up and a low quality of life at follow-up. The asthma cohort and controls scored similarly regarding generic quality of life. However, in the asthma cohort, females scored significantly lower in the physical dimension of the generic instrument, especially in the domain of general health.


CONCLUSIONS
There is an association between low FEV1 and a decline in quality of life among young adults with asthma, i.e. low FEV1 predicts a decline in quality of life during a five-year period. Young females with asthma seem to have lower quality of life compared with young males with asthma.
Sundberg
Rosita
R
Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, S-413 45 Göteborg, Sweden. rosita.sundberg@gu.se
Palmqvist
Mona
M
Tunsäter
Alf
A
Torén
Kjell
K
D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult