TY - JOUR
T1 - A patient-based severity measure of chronic lung disease
T2 - Evaluating functional health and predicting health services use
AU - Ren, Xinhua S.
AU - Selim, Alfredo J.
AU - Fincke, B. Graeme
AU - Linzer, Mark
AU - Kazis, Lewis E.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - Prior research has consistently shown that among patients with chronic lung disease (CLD), health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is tied more to respiratory symptoms than to physiologic measures. However, traditional methods to quantify the severity of CLD have been restricted to physiologic measures (eg, FEV1, FVC, etc) that are often poor predictors of HRQOL and utilization of health services. Using a patient-based measure of symptom severity for CLD developed in the Veterans Health Study (VHS), this article evaluated the impact of the severity of CLD on patients' self-reported HRQOL and future use of health services. We used data from the VHS, a prospective study of patients receiving ambulatory care services in 4 Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics in the greater Boston area. Three hundred fifty-two (14.5%) patients were identified as having CLD through self-report of having a physician's diagnosis of chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or asthma, and either using inhaled medications or having a productive cough for most days for 3 months. Ordinary least-square regressions were used to ascertain the effects of CLD severity on functional health and health services use. Compared with peak expiratory flow rate, which explained only 10% and 2%, respectively, of the variance in the SF-36 physical component summary (PCS) and in future doctor visits, the symptom severity explained 19% and 19%, respectively, of the variance in PCS and future doctor visits, after adjusting for age, education, and household income. The symptom severity measure is a strong predictor of future functional health (at 12 months of the VHS baseline) and health services use (within 6 months following the baseline). The study findings indicate that our measure of CLD severity is an efficient and easy-to-use approach that can be readily administered in ambulatory setting. It can be used as a case-mix adjustment in evaluating health outcomes and in predicting future utilization of health services.
AB - Prior research has consistently shown that among patients with chronic lung disease (CLD), health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is tied more to respiratory symptoms than to physiologic measures. However, traditional methods to quantify the severity of CLD have been restricted to physiologic measures (eg, FEV1, FVC, etc) that are often poor predictors of HRQOL and utilization of health services. Using a patient-based measure of symptom severity for CLD developed in the Veterans Health Study (VHS), this article evaluated the impact of the severity of CLD on patients' self-reported HRQOL and future use of health services. We used data from the VHS, a prospective study of patients receiving ambulatory care services in 4 Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics in the greater Boston area. Three hundred fifty-two (14.5%) patients were identified as having CLD through self-report of having a physician's diagnosis of chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or asthma, and either using inhaled medications or having a productive cough for most days for 3 months. Ordinary least-square regressions were used to ascertain the effects of CLD severity on functional health and health services use. Compared with peak expiratory flow rate, which explained only 10% and 2%, respectively, of the variance in the SF-36 physical component summary (PCS) and in future doctor visits, the symptom severity explained 19% and 19%, respectively, of the variance in PCS and future doctor visits, after adjusting for age, education, and household income. The symptom severity measure is a strong predictor of future functional health (at 12 months of the VHS baseline) and health services use (within 6 months following the baseline). The study findings indicate that our measure of CLD severity is an efficient and easy-to-use approach that can be readily administered in ambulatory setting. It can be used as a case-mix adjustment in evaluating health outcomes and in predicting future utilization of health services.
KW - Chronic lung disease
KW - Health services use
KW - Health status
KW - Illness severity
KW - Patient-based measure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33746179977&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33746179977&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/00004479-200610000-00008
DO - 10.1097/00004479-200610000-00008
M3 - Article
C2 - 16985390
AN - SCOPUS:33746179977
SN - 0148-9917
VL - 29
SP - 320
EP - 331
JO - Journal of Ambulatory Care Management
JF - Journal of Ambulatory Care Management
IS - 4
ER -