Associations Between Mortality, Asthma, and Health-Related Qualityof Life in an Elderly Cohort of Swedes

• Background. Asthma is a common chronic health condition among the elderly and an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Some studiesshow that subjective assessments of health-related quality of life (HRQL) are important predictors of mortality and survival. The primary aim ofthis study was to investigate whether low HRQL was a predictor of mortality in elderly subjects and whether such an association differed betweensubjects with and without asthma. Methods. In 1990, a cohort in middle Sweden was investigated using a respiratory questionnaire. To assess HRQL,the generic instrument Gothenburg Quality of Life (GQL) was used. The participants were also investigated by spirometry and allergy testing. Thepresent study was limited to the subjects in the oldest age group, aged 60–69 years in 1990, and included 222 subjects with clinically verified asthma,148 subjects with respiratory symptoms but no asthma or other lung diseases, and 102 subjects with no respiratory symptoms. Mortality in thecohort was followed during 1990–2008. Results. Altogether, 166 of the 472 subjects in the original cohort had died during the follow-up period of1990–2008. Mortality was significantly higher in men, in older subjects, in smokers, and subjects with a low forced expiratory volume in one second(FEV1). There was, however, no difference in mortality between the asthmatic and the nonasthmatic groups. A higher symptoms score for GQLwas significantly related to increased mortality. No association between HRQL and mortality was found when limiting the analysis to the asthmaticgroup, although the asthmatics had a lower symptom score for GQL compared to the other groups. Conclusion. A higher symptom score in the GQLinstrument was significantly related to increased mortality, but this association was not found when analyzing the asthmatic group alone. The negativeprognostic implications of a low HRQL in the whole group and the fact that the asthmatic group had a lower HRQL than the other group supports theuse of HRQL instruments in clinical health assessments.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

asthma

generic instrument

GQL

mortality

quality of life

Epidemiology

Epidemiologi

Arbets- och miljömedicin

Occupational and Environmental Medicine

MEDICINE

Caring sciences

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)