Health-related Quality of Life in COPD and Asthma

The effects of intervention can be evaluated in
different ways, and objective measurements of
changes in lung function are commonly used as the
outcome measure. Patient-reported outcome (PRO) is
an umbrella term used for all patient-based
assessment. One important PRO is health-related
quality of life (HRQL), which may be used an an
evaluative or discriminative measure. The research
showed that completion up to five PRO questionnaires
was well accepted by subjects with COPD. HRQL
questionnaires might be used for evaluative
purposes. HRQL questionnaires appear to have a
possibility to be used for discriminative purposes
in COPD and asthma, and for comparison of the
diseases. Symptoms correlated with HRQL, whereas
between lung function and HRQL, the relationship was
weaker. HRQL seems to deteriorate with disease
severity in COPD and asthma, as measured by lung
function, or with age. However, a great variation
was noticed.

Autorentext

Elisabeth Ståhl, PhD, Lund University,Sweden;
Principal Scientist Outcomes Research, AstraZeneca Sweden;
Honorary Senior Lecturer, Aberdeen University, Aberdeen, UK.
55+ full-length publications.
150+ abstracts, both oral (e.g. European Respiratory Society)
and poster presentations.

Klappentext

The effects of intervention can be evaluated in
different ways, and objective measurements of
changes in lung function are commonly used as the
outcome measure. Patient-reported outcome (PRO) is
an umbrella term used for all patient-based
assessment. One important PRO is health-related
quality of life (HRQL), which may be used an an
evaluative or discriminative measure. The research
showed that completion up to five PRO questionnaires
was well accepted by subjects with COPD. HRQL
questionnaires might be used for evaluative
purposes. HRQL questionnaires appear to have a
possibility to be used for discriminative purposes
in COPD and asthma, and for comparison of the
diseases. Symptoms correlated with HRQL, whereas
between lung function and HRQL, the relationship was
weaker. HRQL seems to deteriorate with disease
severity in COPD and asthma, as measured by lung
function, or with age. However, a great variation
was noticed.