Table 3. Disease severity and health-related quality of life, study participants with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in rural and urban Uganda, 2015–2016.
| Parameter | Rural participants with COPDa (n = 53) | Urban participants with COPDa (n = 12) | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| COPD severity,b no. (%) | 0.04 | ||
| Mild | 20 (37.7) | 3 (25.0) | ND |
| Moderate | 23 (43.4) | 8 (66.7) | ND |
| Severe | 10 (18.9) | 0 (0.0) | ND |
| Very severe | 0 (0.0) | 1 (8.3) | ND |
| St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire score,20 mean (95% CI) | |||
| Symptoms domain | 48.3 (40.5–56.1) | 63.2 (51.6–74.8) | 0.07 |
| Activity domain | 37.4 (26.8–48.0) | 34.1 (17.8–50.5) | 0.76 |
| Psychosocial impact domain | 27.4 (19.0–35.9) | 32.0 (21.4–42.7) | 0.59 |
| Total | 34.6 (25.5–43.6) | 38.1 (27.4–48.7) | 0.70 |
| MRC dyspnoea scale score, median (IQR) | 2 (1–2) | 2 (2–2) | 0.12 |
CI: confidence interval; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; IQR: interquartile range; MRC: Medical Research Council; ND: not determined.
a Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was defined as a post-bronchodilator ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) to forced vital capacity (FVC) below the lower limit of normal (i.e. z-score ≤ 1.64) of the African American reference population in the United States’ National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
b COPD severity was defined by the GOLD criteria as mild (i.e. FEV1 ≥ 80% predicted), moderate (i.e. 50% ≤ FEV1 < 80% predicted), severe (i.e. 30% ≤ FEV1 < 50% predicted) and very severe (FEV1 < 30% predicted).25