TY - JOUR ID - TI - Health‑Related Quality of Life of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients AU - Ali Ayad Tareq PY - 2020 VL - 17 IS - 1 SP - 69 EP - 78 JO - Medical Journal of Babylon مجلة بابل الطبية SN - 1812156X 23126760 AB - Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common health problem, characterized by persistent respiratory symptomsand airflow limitation that is due to airway and/or alveolar abnormalities. COPD is usually caused by significant exposure to noxiousparticles or gases. Objective: The objective was to assess the impact of COPD on health‑related quality of life (HRQOL) of COPD patients.Materials and Methods: In this cross‑sectional descriptive study, sixty stable COPD patients without significant comorbidity, not in acutesevere exacerbation, who were assessed for HRQOL were interviewed at the Chest Consultant Clinic of Baghdad Teaching Hospital byusing 14 questions of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HRQOL Questionnaire between May 2017 and February 2018. Results: Ofthe sixty participants (80% male and 20% female), all of them were cigarettes smokers (current 57%, ex– smoker 43%)” mean ± standarddeviation (SD) of age 57.4 ± 10.9 years, mean ± SD of their tobacco smoking pack years 61.0 ± 28.7. About 62% of them said that their generalhealth is poor with COPD and 95% of them said they were limited in any way in their activities from the disease. Eighty‑five percent of themsaid that they didn’t get enough rest or sleep in the last 30 days due to their illness. Seventy‑five percent 75% of them said that shortness ofbreath due to COPD made it hard to do usual activities in the last month. They needed help for personal care and help for routine needs in lifeas their answers to questionnaire questions revealed. Statically significant results (P < 0.05) also revealed that the higher COPD severity stage,the lower HRQOL. Conclusions: HRQOL of COPD patients is considerably impacted by this disease and the impaction differs according to theseverity stage of COPD, the higher the severity of COPD, the lower the quality of life. As the goal of therapy in COPD is to improve symptomsand quality of life, so assessment of HRQOL is mandatory in all COPD patients and it is important part of disease management and follow‑up.It is necessary to increase public awareness about tobacco smoking harms because of their direct effect on developing and severity of COPD.

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