Abstract
Tuberculosis is associated with frequent pulmonary impairment. This supports performance of pulmonary function tests in the course of treatment and after a cure but until now pulmonary function testing had not been included in tuberculosis treatment guidelines. The aim of the study was to assess the usefulness St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) for predicting low lung function in patients after treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Methods: we investigated 226 patients older than 40 years who were cured for pulmonary tuberculosis (145 males and 81 females). Quality of Life was studied by SGRQ. Pulmonary function was studied by spirometry. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used for assessment of sensitivity and specificity.
Results: Out of 226 patients, 97 (42,9%) had low lung function (FEV1 < 80% predicted). According to ATS/ERS criteria we classified 8,8% of subjects as having mild impairment; 20,8% of subjects as having moderate impairment; and 13,3% of subjects as having severe impairment. According ROC curve analysis for low lung function, when 29% of Total SGRQ score was chosen as the cut-off, the sensitivity, specificity, positive value and negative value were 57.7%, 83%, 72%, and 72%, respectively. Area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0,75 (95% confidential interval [CI] 0,69 to 0.81; p<0.001). AUC was a bit bigger in male than in female (0,79 vs 0,69).
Conclusion: Total SGRQ of 29% may be the best cut-off in low pulmonary function detection. Higher Total SGRQ score was associated with higher probability of low pulmonary function.
- © 2012 ERS