Comparison of Short Form-36 Health Survey and Nottingham Health Profile in moderate to severe patients with COPD

Objective  To compare the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) assessed by Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) and Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) on the basis of lung function and exercise capacity parameters in patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Methods and materials  The investigation was a prospective, quality-of-life survey and cross-sectional study of 130 consecutive COPD patients. The NHP and SF-36 as generic HRQoL instruments, the Chronic Respiratory Disease questionnaire (CRQ) as a disease-specific HRQoL instrument and 6-minute walking test, severity of dyspnea, leg fatigue and lung function, were the measurements and instruments used in the study.
Results  It was determined that the subscales of both questionnaires were generally related with the FEV₁, walking distance, CRQ, severity of dyspnea and leg fatigue values ( P  < 0.05). The much higher correlation coefficient was determined between these parameters and NHP compared with the SF-36. Only NHP was found to be correlated with the age, body mass index and smoking consumption ( P  < 0.05).
Conclusions  The stronger relation of NHP with the clinical and physical parameters of the patients compared with that of SF-36 may be associated with the increased sensitivity of NHP to the clinical state owing to the increasing respiratory symptoms of our old patients with moderate to severe obstruction and/or the more intelligible and easy-to-respond nature of NHP compared with SF-36.