Health-Related Qua i y of Life in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Are Disease-Specific and Generic Quality of Life Measures Correlated?

Generic and disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaires are commonly used in subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPO). However, it is not clear whether generic and disease-specific measures should be used in parallel, as they focus on differen t aspects of life. This study aimed to investigate the association between two most commonly used generic and disease specific HRQoL measures: Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36Item (SF-36) and St George s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). Materials and Methods: In a cross-sec tional study, 58 subjects were selected through non-randomized systematic sampling from all COPO patients admitted to the Respiratory Clinic of Baqiyatallah Hospital during 2006. Each SUbject completed both SF-36 and SGRQ forms. Spirometry was also performed for each patient. The correlations between SGRQ total score and its subscores, including symptoms , activity and impacts, and SF-36 total score and its subscores, including physical functioning (PF), role-physical (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), social functioning (SF), role-emotional (RE) and mental health (MH), were assessed. Results: No significant correlation was found between the total score or subscores of SF-36 and the total score or subsca/es of SGRQ (p 0.05). Conclusion: The generic SF-36 and the disease specific SGRQ questionnaires assess differen t aspects of HRQoL in COPO patients and each should be used separately. The optimal approach appears to be the application of generic and disease-specific measures together, at least in the research setting. Further studies are recommended with larger sample size. (Tanaffos 2008; 7(2): 28-35)