Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) constitutes a penalty in physical activities of patients. Its mental repercussions are important and expressed in a significant impairment of quality of life.
Objectives: To evaluate the quality of life and its determinants in Tunisian patients with COPD.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study over a period of 6 months from January 2008 to June 2008 and focused on patients with COPD hospitalized and monitored in the department of respiratory diseases in Farhat Hached Teaching hospital of Sousse in Tunisia. We used the French version of Saint George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ) to study the quality of life and the Hospital Anxiety Depression (HAD) for the exploration of anxiety and depression.
Results: Among 100 patients included in the study, the SGRQ overall score average was 44.31 ± 13.85%. Ten patients had depression and 9 patients had an anxiety state. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis showed that four factors were associated significantly with impaired quality of life: dyspnea, the number of exacerbations, comorbidity and depression.
Conclusion: The psychological impact and effect on quality of life of COPD are additional tools combined with physical and spirometric data during the follow-up of treatment of patients and should be systematically sought by practitioners, which is still rare in Tunisia.
Keywords: BPCO; COPD; Epidemiology; Pneumologie; Pneumology; Quality of life; Qualité de vie; Épidémiologie.
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