THE ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) PATIENTS IN QUETTA, PAKISTAN

Background: Chronic Obstructive pulmonary disease is one of the major public health threats. COPD severely affect the health related quality of life of patients suffering from it. Aims and objective: The present study aims to assess the health related quality of life of COPD patients in Quetta Pakistan. Methodology: A questionnaire based cross sectional study was conducted in different hospitals of Quetta city from April to August 2016. Convenient sampling method was used to collect data. A self-administrative pre validated slandered questionnaire, SGRQ, was distributed among patients and collected after completion. The data was computed and analysed using IBM SPSS V. 22. Descriptive analysis and inferential statistics were applied. Results: A total of 253 patients participated in study. Among these, 156 (61.7%) were males and 224 (96.4%) were married. One hundred and twenty four (49.0%) patients were suffering this disease from 1 to 5 years. The mean duration of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was 8.5 years. Smoking status, co-morbidities and span of illness were found to have a statistically significant relationship with health related quality of life scores. Conclusion: The finding of the present study revealed that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in Quetta City, Balochistan had a low health related quality of life (HRQoL). Keywords: COPD, HRQOL, Pakistan