Correlates of mortality in elderly COPD patients: focus on health-related quality of life

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) is widely used as a measure of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with COPD. This study tested whether the SGRQ predicts the survival of patients with COPD. METHODS: The study recruited 238 patients with COPD who were participants in the multicentre Salute Respiratoria nell'Anziano (Sa.R.A.) study. Patients' sociodemographic, clinical and functional characteristics were assessed and the association between the SGRQ and mortality, corrected for potential confounders, was estimated. RESULTS: The mean age of study participants was 72.6 years. Over the 5-year observation period there were 88 deaths. After…