Abstract
Practical considerations preclude HRQOL monitoring in population surveys and clinical research. A COS based on one-item HRQOL general(QGEN) measures is known to yield unbiased estimates of SF-36 & summary QOL measures with 75% reduced respondent burden. Whether it captures the HRQOL effects of common respiratory symptoms is unknown. We tested 2 approaches to COS measures:an 8-item QGEN and SF-36 for convergent validity & accuracy in discriminating groups differing in sore throat and cough severity.
National Opinion Research Center (NORC) representative (N=1,570) & supplemental (N=4,828) U.S. adult samples were surveyed online in 2020. To compare symptom severity groups, two COS modules measuring the same 8 generic HRQOL domains and summary physical and mental scores were fielded. Data including gender, age, ethnicity, employment and comorbidities were analyzed using product-moment correlations and analysis of covariance.
In support of convergent validity, high product-moment correlations were observed between QGEN item and SF-36 multi-item COS method estimates for all 8 common domains (0.578-0.767, median=0.702) and two summary HRQOL measures (0.841-0.847). Comparisons of means across severity groups for both methods revealed a clear and consistent pattern of declining HRQOL with worse symptom severity on controlling for covariates.
QGEN-8 and SF-36 have satisfactory validity in relation to each other and for capturing the worsening of physical and mental HRQOL for groups with more frequent cough and sore throat. QGEN-8 warrants further testing as an alternative for estimating HRQOL outcomes in clinical studies requiring limited respondent burden.
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2021; 58: Suppl. 65, PA3131.
This abstract was presented at the 2021 ERS International Congress, in session “Prediction of exacerbations in patients with COPD”.
This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2021