Health-Related Quality of Life of Vietnamese Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Introduction: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a severe condition that leads to respiratory disability, considerably reduces the comfort of living and affects all aspects of a patient's life. Aim: This study assessed the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQL) of patients with COPD by using St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), as a research tool. Materials and Methods: A 2-week cross-sectional survey was conducted at Dong Nai General Hospital, Bien Hoa City, Southern Vietnam. Data were collected by performing face-to-face interviews of 317 patients with COPD {Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stages III and IV} by using the SGRQ. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS for Windows version 22.0. Results: This study included patients with severe and very severe COPD (28.1% patients with GOLD stage III COPD and 71.9% patients with GOLD stage IV COPD). Median (IQR) SGRQ total score was 53.3 (37.7-71.1), which increased with an increase in the GOLD stage {42.9 (27.0-57.2) for patients with GOLD stage III COPD and 56.3 (41.1-75.8) for patients with GOLD stage IV COPD}. Significant differences were observed between the SGRQ total score and patient characteristic sdistribution, including age, gender, place of residence, marital status, BMI, education level, employment status, monthly income, exercise status, health insurance status and Modified Medical Research Council (MMRC) score (p< 0.05). Conclusion: The SGRQ seems to be a useful tool for assessing the health status of patients with COPD. Our results indicate that the impact of COPD on the quality of life patients can be assessed using a specific instrument and that an increase in COPD severity is significantly associated with the SGRQ symptom, activity, impact and total scores.