Comparison of Different Disease-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life Measurements in Patients with Long-Term Noninvasive Ventilation

Background. Two disease-specific questionnaires have been developed to assess health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with chronic respiratory failure: the Severe Respiratory Insufficiency (SRI) Questionnaire and the Maugeri Respiratory Failure (MRF) Questionnaire.We aimed to compare the characteristics of the SRI,MRF-26, and St.George’s RespiratoryQuestionnaire (SGRQ) for use in patientswith home noninvasive ventilation (NIV). Methods. Fifty-six outpatients receiving long-termNIVwere recruited and underwent assessments of pulmonary function, arterial blood gas, HRQL, dyspnea, and psychological status. Results. Correlations of the SRI andMRF-26with the SGRQweremodest.While pulmonary functionwas weakly related to only some domains of the SRI and MRF-26, the modifiedMedical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea scale and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were significantly related to all domains of the SRI and MRF-26. Multiple regression analyses showed that HADS depression and mMRC accounted for 34% and 27% of the variance in the SRI, 24% and 37% in the MRF-26, and 17% and 46% in the SGRQ, respectively. Conclusions. The SRI and MRF-26 were reliable questionnaires for patients receiving long-term NIV. Dyspnea and psychological status were theirmain common determinants.The SRI covers more psychological health impairments than the MRF. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00905476.