Impact of Lung Function and Exacerbations on Health-Related Quality of Life in COPD Patients Within One Year: Real-World Analysis Based on Claims Data.
Real-world evidence on the impact of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and exacerbations on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is sparse especially with regard to GOLD ABCD groups. This study investigates how changes in FEV1 and exacerbations affect generic and disease-specific HRQoL in COPD patients over one year.
Using German claims data and survey data, we classified 3016 COPD patients and analyzed their health status by GOLD groups AB and CD. HRQoL was measured with the disease-specific COPD assessment test (CAT) and the visual analog scale (VAS) from the generic Euro-Qol 5D-5L. We applied change score models to assess associations between changes in FEV1 (≥100 mL decrease/no change/≥100 mL increase) or the development of severe exacerbations with change in HRQoL.
FEV1 decrease was associated with a significant but not minimal important difference (MID) deterioration in disease-specific HRQoL (mean change [95% CI]: CAT +0.74 [0.15 to 1.33]), while no significant change was observed in the generic VAS. Experiencing at least one severe exacerbation also had a significant impact on CAT deterioration (+1.58 [0.52 to 2.64]), but again not on VAS. Here, GOLD groups AB showed not only a statistically but also a clinically relevant MID deterioration in CAT (+2.1 [0.88 to 3.32]). These particular patient groups were further characterized by a higher probability of being male, having a higher mMRC and Charlson index, and a lower probability of having higher FEV1 or BMI values.
FEV1 decline and the occurrence of ≥1 severe exacerbation are significantly associated with overall deterioration in disease-specific HRQoL. Preventing severe exacerbations particularly in patients without previous severe exacerbations (ABCD groups A and B) may help to stabilize the key patient-reported outcome HRQoL.
Stöber A
,Lutter JI
,Schwarzkopf L
,Kirsch F
,Schramm A
,Vogelmeier CF
,Leidl R
... -
《International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease》
Does uptake of specialty care affect HRQoL development in COPD patients beneficially? A difference-in-difference analysis linking claims and survey data.
There is an evidence gap on whether the choice of specialty care beneficially affects health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study analyzes how newly initiated pulmonologist care affects the generic and disease-specific HRQoL in COPD patients over a period of 1 year.
We linked claims data with data from two survey waves to investigate the longitudinal effect of specialty care on HRQoL using linear Difference-in-Difference models based on 1:3 propensity score matched data. Generic HRQoL was operationalized by EQ-5D-5L visual analog scale (VAS), and disease-specific HRQoL by COPD assessment test (CAT). Subgroup analyses examined COPD patients with low (GOLD AB) and high (GOLD CD) exacerbation risk.
In contrast to routine care patients, pulmonologists' patients (n = 442) experienced no significant deterioration in HRQoL (VAS - 0.0, p = 0.9870; CAT + 0.5, p = 0.0804). Models unveiled a small comparative advantage of specialty care on HRQoL (mean change: CAT - 0.8, VAS + 2.9), which was especially pronounced for GOLD AB (CAT - 0.7; VAS + 3.1).
The uptake of pulmonologist care had a statistically significant, but not clinically relevant, beneficial impact on the development of HRQoL by slowing down overall HRQoL deterioration within 1 year. Including specialty care more appropriately in COPD management, especially at lower disease stages (GOLD AB), could thus improve patients' health outcome.
Stöber A
,Marijic P
,Kurz C
,Schwarzkopf L
,Kirsch F
,Schramm A
,Leidl R
... -
《-》
Moderate and severe exacerbations have a significant impact on health-related quality of life, utility, and lung function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A meta-analysis.
Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may increase the risk of morbidity and mortality as well as pulmonary complications after surgery among patients with COPD. This meta-analysis was designed to explore the impact of moderate and severe exacerbations of COPD on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), utility, and lung function in patients with COPD.
The individual impacts of moderate and severe exacerbations on St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), COPD Assessment Test (CAT), and EuroQoL-5 dimensions 5 level (EQ-5D-5L) scores, and on forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) were assessed. Adjustments were applied to account for differences in study design. Outcomes were measured at specific time points across a 12-month study period, for all patients and for subsets with either no or ≥1 severe exacerbations in the year before study entry. The proximity of each measurement in relation to a specific exacerbation was also assessed.
A total of seven randomized clinical trials (RCTs) ≥12-month interventional/observational studies with 18,746 COPD patients were assessed. Overall, 4,483 (24%) patients had ≥1 severe exacerbation in the previous year. Moderate and severe exacerbations were associated with worsening from baseline in SGRQ, CAT, EQ-5D-5L, and FEV1 measures; severe exacerbations had greater impact than moderate exacerbations.
Moderate and severe exacerbations have a substantial and lasting impact on HRQoL, utility, and lung function in patients with COPD, highlighting a need for effective exacerbation prevention.
Guo J
,Chen Y
,Zhang W
,Tong S
,Dong J
... -
《-》
COPD exacerbations and patient-reported outcomes according to post-bronchodilator FEV(1) - a post-hoc analysis of pooled data.
Management strategies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) need to be tailored to the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), exacerbations, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) of individual patients. In this study, we analyzed the association and correlation between the FEV1, exacerbations, and PROs of patients with stable COPD.
This was a post-hoc analysis of pooled data from two cross-sectional studies that were previously conducted in Malaysia from 2017 to 2019, the results of which had been published separately. The parameters measured included post-bronchodilator FEV1 (PB-FEV1), exacerbations, and scores of modified Medical Research Council (mMRC), COPD Assessment Test (CAT), and St George's Respiratory Questionnaire for COPD (SGRQ-c). Descriptive, association, and correlation statistics were used.
Three hundred seventy-four patients were included in the analysis. The PB-FEV1 predicted was < 30% in 85 (22.7%), 30-49% in 142 (38.0%), 50-79% in 111 (29.7%), and ≥ 80% in 36 (9.6%) patients. Patients with PB-FEV1 < 30% predicted had significantly more COPD exacerbations than those with PB-FEV1 30-49% predicted (p < 0.001), 50-79% predicted (p < 0.001), and ≥ 80% predicted (p = 0.002). The scores of mMRC, CAT, and SGRQ-c were not significantly higher in patients with more severe airflow limitation based on PB-FEV1 (p = 0.121-0.271). The PB-FEV1 predicted had significant weak negative correlations with exacerbations (r = - 0.182, p < 0.001), mMRC (r = - 0.121, p = 0.020), and SGRQ-c scores (r = - 0.114, p = 0.028). There was a moderate positive correlation between COPD exacerbations and scores of mMRC, CAT, and SGRQ-c (r = 0.407-0.482, all p < 0.001). There were significant strong positive correlations between mMRC score with CAT (r = 0.727) and SGRQ-c scores (r = 0.847), and CAT score with SGRQ-c score (r = 0.851) (all p < 0.001).
In COPD patients, different severity of airflow limitation was not associated with significant differences in the mMRC, CAT, and SGRQ-c scores. Exacerbations were significantly more frequent in patients with very severe airflow limitation only. The correlation between airflow limitation with exacerbations, mMRC, and SGRQ-c was weak.
Chai CS
,Ng DL
,Bt Mos S
,Ibrahim MAB
,Tan SB
,Pang YK
,Liam CK
... -
《-》