Influence of Demographic Status on Pulmonary Function, Quality of Life, and Symptom Scores in Patients with Mild to Moderate Persistent Asthma

Publication date: June 2014 Source:Journal of Experimental & Clinical Medicine, Volume 6, Issue 3 Author(s): M.G. Rajanandh , A.D. Nageswari , K. Ilango The association of patient factors such as age, sex, smoking status, asthma duration, and literacy with pulmonary function, quality of life, and symptom scores was examined. Two hundred and forty-two patients were included in this study. Pulmonary function was measured by spirometry and data on the patients' health-related quality of life and asthma symptom scores were obtained from questionnaires. After the drug treatment, younger asthmatics, particularly male patients showed statistically significant (p < 0.05) improvement in pulmonary function, day-time and night-time symptom score. Patients with an asthma duration of ≤5 years showed a significant improvement in pulmonary function and health-related quality of life scores (p < 0.05). Nonsmokers and literate patients had a significantly higher improvement in pulmonary function than smokers and illiterate patients (p < 0.05). Demographic factors were independently associated with asthma efficacy parameters. We encourage further studies on the underlying pathways and public health interventions, focusing on reducing socio-demographic inequalities in patients with asthma.
Source: Journal of Experimental and Clinical Medicine - Category: Journals (General) Source Type: research