INFLUENCE OF CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF PATIENTS OF DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS
Objective: to study the degree of negative impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on the quality of life of patients from different age groups. The quality of life was studied in 86 patients with COPD in remission. The main group consisted of the older patients (the mean age is 64.92±3.51 years old), the comparison group included mature patients (the mean age is 41.99±2.81 years old). The assessment of the quality of life was done by the results obtained from the questionnaire «Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36» (MOS SF-36) and specialized questionnaire «St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire» (SGRQ). According to the results of the research, older patients were characterized by a decrease in the quality of life in the majority of scales of the common questionnaire MOS SF-36 compared with mature patients. Statistically significant reductions were in the scales characterizing the physical and psychosocial status of elderly patients. When analyzing the SGRQ specific quality of life questionnaire results, a more significant effect of the disease on the overall health of older patients was found out, which was confirmed by a higher «total score». Thus, the results of general and specialized questionnaires showed that the age is one of the most important factors determining the reduced quality of life of COPD patients in remission.