The aim of the study was to obtain the general population norms for the St. George9s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), a specific questionnaire for respiratory diseases.The IBERPOC project was a cross-sectional study of representative samples of the general population aged between 40-69 yrs. The study sample was composed of 862 individuals. All participants considered as "probable cases" of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (n=460) were eligible to complete the SGRQ and among the rest of the nonprobable COPD participants (n=3,571), 10 individuals from each defined age and sex group were eligible (n=402). Weights were applied to restore general population representativity of the sample.Mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) predicted was 89.4% (SD=16.5%; range: 16-131%). Chronbach9s alpha coefficients were w0.7 in the symptoms, activity and impact scales, and w0.9 in the overall scale. Symptom scale score was significantly higher among males (11.6 versus 7.8; pv0.01) and activity scale score was significantly higher among females (12.2 versus 14.6; p=0.04). In a multiple linear regression model, respiratory diseases (asthma and COPD) and FEV1 % over pred showed the strongest association with the SGRQ total score. Smoking, sex, age and education were independently associated with the total SGRQ score.These results indicate that individuals from the general population presented some of the problems that are important when measuring health-related quality of life in respiratory patients, and provide St George9s Respiratory Questionnaire norms, a useful method for interpreting the St George9s Respiratory Questionnaire score in a given patient or study samples.
The aim of the study was to compare the safety and effectiveness of asneeded formoterol with salbutamol in a large international real-life asthma study.Children and adults (n=18,124) were randomised to 6 months as-needed treatment with open-label formoterol 4.5 mg Turbuhaler1 or salbutamol 200 mg pressurised metered dose inhaler or equivalent. Primary safety variables were asthma-related and nonasthma-related serious adverse events (SAE)s and adverse events (AE)s resulting in discontinuation (DAE)s. The primary efficacy variable was time to first asthma exacerbation.The incidences of AEs, SAEs and DAEs arising from SAEs were not significantly different between treatments. DAEs for nonserious AEs were higher with formoterol. Asthma-related AEs decreased with formoterol (1,098 (12.3%) versus 1,206 (13.5%)), asthma-related SAEs were similar (108 (1.2%) versus 121 (1.4%)) but more asthmarelated DAEs occurred in the formoterol group (89 (1.0%) versus 48 (0.5%)). Time to first exacerbation was prolonged (hazard ratio 0.86) and less as-needed and maintenance medication was used with formoterol. Reductions of exacerbations with as-needed formoterol versus salbutamol increased with increasing age and asthma medication level.This real-life study demonstrates that formoterol as-needed has a similar safety profile to salbutamol, and its use as a reliever therapy is associated with fewer asthma symptoms and exacerbations. Eur Respir J 2003; 22: 787-794.
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