Relationship between the functional status constructs and quality of life in COPD

Abstract

Introduction: Functional status is an important component of health related quality of life (QOL) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However there is a lack of studies aiming to evaluate the association between QOL and the different methods for assessing patient´s limitation to perform ADL. Objectives: To investigate the association between QOL and functional status, measured by four different instruments: London Chest Activity of Daily Living scale (LCADL), six-minute walking test (6MWT), Glittre ADL-test (TGlittre) and assessment of physical activities in daily living (PADL). Methods: Twenty-three patients with COPD, GOLD 2 to 4, were submitted to the following evaluations: spirometry, the Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), LCADL, 6MWT, TGlittre and assessment of PADL. Pearson or Spearman correlation coefficients were used to verify the association between the variables. Results: It was observed correlation between all domains of the SGRQ and the 6MWT, between TGlittre and ‘leisure’ domain of LCADL; and between the domain ‘activity’ of the SGRQ with the total score of LCADL (r = 0.53), LCADL% (r = 0.54), ‘self care’ (r = 0.49) and ‘leisure’ (r = 0.82). The number of steps correlated with the SGRQ (r = -0.59) and with ‘activity’ (r = -0.70) and ‘impact’ (r = -0.52) domains. The standing time correlated with the domain ‘activitiy’ (r = -0.47) of the SGRQ (p < 0.05 for all). Conclusions: Both functional performance and capacity are able to reflect the impact that ADL limitation has on QOL in patients with COPD.