Health status deterioration in subjects with mild to moderate airflow obstruction, a six years observational study

• Published in: Respiratory research Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 93 - 13
• Main Authors: Rodrigues, Fernanda Machado, Demeyer, Heleen, Loeckx, Matthias, Hornikx, Miek, Van Remoortel, Hans, Janssens, Wim, Troosters, Thierry
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 18.05.2019; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Aged; Aging; Air flow; Airflow obstruction; Airway management; Anxiety; Case-Control Studies; Chronic obstructive lung disease; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Depression (Mood disorder); Exercise; Exercise - physiology; Exercise - psychology; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Generic drugs; Health; Health aspects; Health Status; Health surveys; Health Surveys - trends; Hospitals; Humans; Longitudinal studies; Lung diseases; Lungs; Male; Medical research; Mental depression; Middle Aged; Observational studies; Observations; Patients; Physical activity; Physical fitness; Physical Fitness - physiology; Physical Fitness - psychology; Polls & surveys; Prospective Studies; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - diagnosis; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - physiopathology; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - psychology; Pulmonary ventilation; Quality of life; Quality of Life - psychology; Questionnaires; Respiratory function; Respiratory tract diseases; Signs and symptoms; Smoking; Society; Studies; Time Factors; Belgium; Aging; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Longitudinal studies; Health status; Airflow obstruction
• ISSN: 1465-993X; 1465-9921; 1465-993X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12931-019-1061-7

Patients with COPD need to cope with a disabling disease, which leads to health status impairment. To investigate the long term change of health status in subjects with mild to moderate airflow obstruction and to compare this to subjects without airflow obstruction, with and without a smoking history. Second, to investigate the factors potentially associated to rapid health status decline in our total cohort. Two hundred and one subjects were included. Generic [Short form 36 health survey (SF36) and EuroQol - 5 dimensions (EQ-5D)] and disease specific [Clinical COPD questionnaire (CCQ) and COPD Assessment Test (CAT)] health status questionnaires were regularly repeated over a six years period. Other functional outcomes comprised measures of lung function, physical fitness, physical activity and emotional state. On average, health status decline did not differ between groups with the exception of the EQ-5D index, which deteriorated faster in subjects with airflow obstruction compared to the never smoking control group [- 0.018(0.008) versus 0.00006(0.003), p = 0.03]. Subjects presenting at least one exacerbation had faster rate of deterioration measured with CAT [0.91(0.21) versus - 0.26(0.25), p < 0.01]. Characteristics of the fast declining group were older age, worse lung function, physical fitness, physical activity and disease specific baseline health status. Subjects with airflow obstruction had a 2.5 (95% CI 1.36-4.71) higher risk of presenting fast overall health status decline. Fast overall decline was associated with the presence of acute exacerbation(s) (44% of the subjects with exacerbation(s) versus 17% of subjects without exacerbation, p = 0.03). Changes in fat free mass, functional exercise capacity and in symptoms of anxiety and depression correlated weakly to changes in health status measured with all questionnaires. Subjects with mild airflow obstruction present a significant deterioration of health status, which is generally not much faster compared to smoking and never smoking controls. Subjects with fast decline in overall health status are older and more likely to have airflow obstruction, acute respiratory exacerbation(s), reduced physical fitness, physical activity and impaired COPD specific health status at baseline. NCT01314807 - retrospectively registered on March 2011.