Symptoms, Quality of Life, and Health Service Contact among Young Adults with Mild Asthma

Abstract

This report assesses Quality of Life (QoL) and its relationship to current symptoms and prospective medical contact among 396 adult patients with asthma. Patients were 16 to 52 yr of age and in the care of family physicians in the northeast of Scotland. All patients had been prescribed asthma medication within the previous 3 mo. Mean %pred FEV(1) was 87.4, mean %pred PEF was 85.1; 41% reported respiratory symptoms every week in the month before interview. Patients completed the SF-36, SF-12, and St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) scales. Although mean scores on the SF-36 and SF-12 were close to population norms for patients without chronic illness, the presence of any respiratory symptoms in the month before interview was related to significantly lower QoL scores on the SF-36 scales of Physical Functioning, Energy, Mental Health, Pain, and Health Perception: the SF-12 Physical Functioning scale, and the SGRQ Symptoms, Impact and Activities scales. Physician contact for asthma in the 12 mo after interview was significantly related to SF-36, SF-12, and SGRQ scores at time of interview; however, when adjusted for symptoms at time of interview, only the SGRQ scales remained significant predictors of prospective physician contact. We conclude that respiratory symptoms have significant impact on QoL among patients with mild asthma, measured by generic and respiratory QoL scales, but that a specific respiratory scale is better able to discriminate patients who will seek physician care for asthma.

Relationship between guideline treatment and health-related quality of life in asthma

“…For all patients, irrespective of their treatment, the HRQL decreased from 6.1 for severity class 1 patients to 4.8 for the most severe patients, which is similar to that seen in other studies [20]. It is most likely that the relationship between HRQL and asthma severity is due to the relationship between HRQL and asthma symptoms [26,27].…”

Parents' quality of life and respiratory symptoms in young children with mild wheeze

“…The concept of a "low" responder may have implications for parent action in relation to child care. For adults with asthma it has been shown that lower quality of life, independent of symptoms, predicts use of acute care [5,6]. Are "low responder" parents less likely to seek medical help for their child9s symptoms and does parental sensitivity to symptom change have any relationship to parental willingness to adhere to child therapy?…”

“…Measures of caregiver quality of life may be important in explaining health service use for children with wheezing illness, because parents9 response to symptoms is likely to influence decisions to seek medical care for the child. In adult asthma it has been shown that poor quality of life of the patient, independent of symptom level [5], predicts greater use of health services [6].…”

Queixas subjectivas de saúde, afectividade negativa e utilização de serviços de saúde: Diferenças de género

“…Existe também uma relação entre as queixas de sintomas e a qualidade de vida. As queixas subjectivas de saúde estão relacionadas negativamente com a qualidade de vida relacionada com a saúde, ou seja, altos níveis de queixas subjectivas de saúde estão associados a uma baixa qualidade de vida (Tveito et al, 2004) e a presença de qualquer sintoma está relacionada com uma pior pontuação nas escalas de qualidade de vida (Osman et al, 2000). De acordo com este estudo, as dores músculo--esqueléticas são as mais importantes para a componente física da qualidade de vida enquanto que as queixas pseudoneurológicas são as mais importantes para a componente mental.…”