title: Predicting Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: The Impact of Age.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of morbidity in the elderly population. COPD leads to a reduced health-related quality of life (HRQL), but the factors which contribute to this are not well understood. A better understanding of the factors which determine HRQL should lead to an improved care for such patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate possible age-related differences in HRQL in a population of patients with a similar severity of obstruction.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 180 consecutive COPD patients were enrolled into the study. We analyzed spirometric data, BODE index and its components, and comorbidities were assessed by the Charlson index. HRQL was assessed by the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) and St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cohort consisted of 93 'younger' patients (mean age 54.8 ± 3.1 years) and 87 older patients (mean age 73.1 ± 5.5 years). Patients in both groups had a similar severity of obstruction: FEV1 (% from predicted) was 39.9 ± 13.2% in the elderly group compared to 41.7 ± 11.7% in the younger group (p > 0.05). The forward stepwise regression analysis shows that the BODE index, the Charlson index, and the rate of exacerbations are important predictors of deterioration of HRQL in elderly COPD patients, which explains 29% of the total SGRQ score. In the younger COPD patients, the coefficient of determination R2 was 0.27, but the predictors were the BODE index and the rate of exacerbations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The BODE index, the Charlson index, and the rate of exacerbations were found to be the major determinants of HRQL in elderly COPD patients, while in younger COPD patients, the BODE index and the rate of exacerbations were influential factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, State University of Medicine and Pharmacy 'Nicolae Testemitanu', Chisinau, Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Alexandru
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corlateanu
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Botnaru
authors.forename: Serghei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Covantev
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dumitru
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Siafakas
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013147:Spirometry; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000070857:Walk Test