# Prevalence and determinants of health-related quality of life in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in Yaoundé, Cameroon: a pilot study

## TL;DR

This study found that most COPD patients in Yaoundé, Cameroon, have poor quality of life, with recent exacerbations being a key factor.

## Contribution

The study identifies exacerbation history as an independent predictor of poor HRQL in COPD patients in Cameroon.

## Key findings

- 65.5% of COPD patients had poor health-related quality of life.
- History of exacerbations in the past 12 months was the sole independent predictor of poor HRQL.

## Abstract

the present study aimed to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQL) and identify the factors associated with poor quality of life, among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.

we conducted a cross-sectional study at Jamot Hospital and Polymere Medical Center, Yaoundé, from February 1 to June 30, 2020. All consent adult COPD patients who were followed in both centers during the recruitment period were included. The Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) was used to assess HRQL. Poor quality of life was defined by an SGRQ score ≥30. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, USA) software. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with poor quality of life. The statistical significance threshold was set at 0.05.

of the 63 patients invited to participate in the study, only 29 were finally included. Almost 3/5 (58.6%) were males, and their median age (interquartile range, IQR) was 68.0 (57.0 - 74.5) years. The median HRQL score (IQR) was 44.2 (23.2 - 65.0). The prevalence (95% confidence interval, 95% CI) of poor HRQL was 65.5% (48.3 - 82.8) %. The history of exacerbations during the last 12 months [odds ratio (95% CI) = 12.3 (1.1 - 136.7); p=0.04] emerged as the sole independent predictor of poor HRQL.

the prevalence of poor health-related quality of life was high in these COPD patients. The presence of exacerbations in the past 12 months was an independent factor associated with poor HRQL in patients with COPD.