title: Clinical characteristics and quality of life in women with COPD: an observational study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The impact of COPD on patient's quality of life is well established, but gender differences have received little attention.
  
  
  METHODS
  To describe factors associated with the health-related quality of life by gender: A cross-sectional observational study (NCT01007734) was conducted in COPD patients followed by pulmonologists. The first patient included had to be a woman. Data concerning the patient, COPD and their management were collected by the physician. The patient had to fill in several questionnaires: Saint-George Hospital respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ-C), and motivation to quit smoking.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four hundred and thirty patients were included: mean age 63.9 ± 11.3 years; 57.4% were women. Women were significantly younger than men (61.9 vs. 66.6) and their tobacco use was lower (37.1 vs. 40.4 PY). Cardiovascular comorbidities were more frequent in men while osteoporosis, anxiety and depression were frequent in women. The frequency of cough, sputum and the severity of dyspnea did not differ significantly between genders. Lung function impairment was less severe in women than in men (mean FEV1 52% predicted normal vs. 47. 8%). Anxiety score was higher (score 9.8 vs. 7.1) and quality of life (SGRQ-C) more impaired in women (scores 50.6 vs. 45.4; p < 0.02) than in men. Moreover, in multivariate analysis, chronic sputum was associated with higher SGRQ-C scores in women but not in men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study underlines that despite less airflow limitation, quality of life is more impacted by chronic sputum in women than in men.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Diseases, CHU Bordeaux, U897, ISPED, University of Bordeaux Segalen, Bordeaux, France. chantal.raherison@isped.u-bordeaux2.fr.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Raherison
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tillie-Leblond
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prudhomme
authors.forename: Camille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Taillé
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Biron
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nocent-Ejnaini
authors.forename: Benigne
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mathieu
authors.forename: Juliette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ostinelli
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications; D003371:Cough / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000150:complications; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking; D013183:Sputum; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires