title: Does the BODE index correlate with quality of life in patients with COPD?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether the Body mass index, airway Obstruction, Dyspnea, and Exercise capacity (BODE) index correlates with health-related quality of life in patients with COPD.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated 42 patients with COPD, quantifying the following: lung function parameters; anthropometric variables; exercise capacity, with the six-minute walk test; dyspnea, with the modified Medical Research Council (MRC) scale; the BODE index; and quality of life, with the modified Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire (mSGRQ). Patients were divided into two groups by disease severity: FEV1 >or= 50% and FEV1 < 50%.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean BODE index was 2.58 ± 1.17 and 4.15 ± 1.81, respectively, for the FEV1 >or= 50% and FEV1 < 50% groups. There was a significant difference between the groups in terms of FEV1 and the FEV1/FVC ratio. There were moderate to significant correlations between the BODE index scores and all of the mSGRQ domains in the group of patients with FEV1 <50%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The BODE index score correlated with the scores of all of the mSGRQ domains in COPD patients with FEV1 < 50%. Therefore, COPD patients with FEV1 < 50% die sooner and have a poorer quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brasil. zeniatsa@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Zênia Trindade de Souto
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Araujo
authors.forename: Gardenia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Holanda
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012016:Reference Values