The relationship between BODE index, pulmonary function parameters, exercise parameters, dyspnea and SGRQ for assessment of health-related quality of life measurement in stabile-COPD patients

In most of the world, COPD is increasing with a high prevelance, high morbidity, high mortality. However there is a need for diagnosis methods and efficient approaches need for treatment of the disease. In addition to define the severity of the disease, to foresee its growing, to assess the efficiency of the treatment and therefore to evaluate all aspects of the disease there is a need for clinical outcomes and markers.Traditionally metric used to define the progression of COPD has been change in FEV1 However correlation between clinical findings is weak. In addition to FEV1, other measures must be find and their validity must be shown. Today, more comprehensive approaches that are related to BMI, lung hyperinflation, symtoms, healt related to quality of life and exercise tests have been emerging.Recently, BODE index which has more than one marker is made to serve this purpose. Studies made with BODE index emphasises that this index is a better and more accurate method compared to FEV1 at following patients, hospital stays of the patients, foreseeing mortality and assessing the growth of the disease.In our study we examined the correlation between BODE index and severity of the COPD that is based on FEV1 classification. A meaningful relation between COPD phases and BODE is determined. (p<0.01). In addition, relation between COPD phases and cigarette (package/year) RV / TLC, IC, IC / TLC, DLCO is also statistically significant (p<0.01).Even though a parallel change in the severity of the disease related to SGRQ?s total score and scores related to its components was determined, no significantly change was determined apart from activity score. Regarding to dyspnea measures closely related to severity of the disease, we determined BDI and BORG measure which is an after exercise dyspnea measure. These findings hints that dyspnea, apart from FEV1, decreases parallel to lung hyperinflation; exercise capacity decreases parallel to degradation in difusion and hyperinflation.There was a high correlation between BODE index FEV1, IC, RV / TLC, 6 MWT and PaO2 (p<0,01); relation between dyspnea measures of MMRC, BDI, Borg measure and total score of SGRQ is statistically significant (p<0,01). In addition to correlation between BODE index, COPD phases and accordingly to FEV1, lung hyperinflation, dyspnea, exercise capacity and life quality is also meaningful. Therefore results hints that BODE index is a more efficient measure compared to FEV1 and it allows a better assesment of the patients.