Original Article   OPEN ACCESS

Health-related quality of life and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in North Carolina

1David W. Brown, DSc, 2, 4Roy Pleasants, PharmD, 3Jill A. Ohar, MD, 4Monica Kraft, MD, 5James F. Donohue, MD, 6David M. Mannino, MD, 7Winston Liao, MSc, 8Harry Herrick, MSc.

1Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
2Cambell University School of Pharmacy, Buies Creek, NC, USA.
3Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.
4Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
5University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
6University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Lexington, Kentucky, USA.
7North Carolina Division of Public Health Asthma Program, Raleigh, NC, USA.
8North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics, Raleigh, NC, USA

Citation: Brown DW, Pleasants R, Ohar JA, Kraft M, Donohue JF. Mannino DM, Liao W, Herrick H. Health-related quality of life and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in North Carolina. North Am J Med Sci 2010; 2: 60-65.    
Doi: 10.4297/najms.2010.260
Availability: www.najms.org
ISSN: 1947 – 2714

Abstract
Background: Comparisons of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and adults in the general population are not well described. Aims: To examine associations between COPD and four measures of HRQOL in a population-based sample. Patients & Methods: These relationships were examined using data from 13,887 adults aged  >18 years who participated in the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) conducted in North Carolina (NC). Logistic regression was used to obtain adjusted relative odds (aOR). Results: The age-adjusted prevalence of COPD among NC adults was 5.4% (standard error 0.27). Nearly half of adults with COPD reported fair/poor health compared with 15% of those without the condition (age-aOR, 5.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.4 to 6.8). On average, adults with COPD reported twice as many unhealthy days (physical/mental) as those without the condition. The age-adjusted prevalence of >14 unhealthy days during the prior 30 days was 45% for adults with COPD and 17% for those without. The aOR of >14 unhealthy days was 1.7 (95% CI, 1.4 to 2.2) times greater among adults with COPD compared with those without. Conclusions: These results suggest COPD is independently associated with lower levels of HRQOL and reinforce the importance of preventing COPD and its complications through health education messages stressing efforts to reduce total personal exposure to tobacco smoke, occupational dusts and chemicals, and other indoor and outdoor air pollutants linked to COPD and early disease recognition. Our findings represent one of the few statewide efforts in the US and provide guidance for disease management and policy decision making.

Keywords: Health-related quality of life, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, North Carolina, behavioral risk factor surveillance system, age-adjusted prevalence, adults, pollutants, tobacco, occupational dusts, chemicals, policy decision making.

Correspondence to: David W Brown, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE (MS K67), Atlanta, Georgia, 30341 USA. Tel.: (770) 4885269, Fax: (770) 4885965. Email: dbrown6@cdc.gov.