Health-Related Quality of Life and Its Relationships with Poor Exercise Capacity and Dyspnea in Thais with COPD

Purpose: This study aims to explore the health-related quality of life (HRQL) and its relationship with exercise capacity and dyspnea of the southern Thai patients with stable COPD.

Methods: The methodology was the cross-sectional descriptive study. The sample consists of 126 patients with COPD attending the outpatient pulmonary clinic of Thasala hospital. The patients were assessed the HRQL by the Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), age, BMI, dyspnea by the Modified Medical Research Council (MMRC), exercise capacity by the 6-min walk distance (6MWD), and hospital utilization.

Results: The results found that most patients were male 84%; they  had a mean(SD) of age 69.6(9.5) years, FEV1 70.0(9.6) % predicted, and BMI 21.9(4.4). The HRQL indicated  moderate impairment: symptom 47.0(22.2), activity 49.7(30.3), impact 41.9(21.2) and total scores 45.1(21.7). The regression analysis shows that HRQL were the most affected by 6MWD and dyspnea, hospitalization, age respectively (β = -.429, .295, .172, and -.152; R² = .443, p < .001). Also, patients with poor exercise capacity (6MWD <350m) and dyspnea scored significantly higher (greater impairment) on all dimensions of SGRQ.

Conclusion:

Stable COPD patients should be motivated to exercise for promoting exercise capacity (6MWD) and also HRQL.