TITLE:
Correlates and Predictors of Health-Related Quality of Life among Patients with COPD: An Integrative Review
AUTHORS:
Nazih Abu Tabar, Jafar Alasad Alshraideh
KEYWORDS:
HRQoL, COPD Integrative Review, Uncertainty, Anxiety, Fatigue
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.9 No.12,
December
9,
2019
ABSTRACT: Background: Health-related quality of life is an important outcome variable with COPD patients. Impaired health-related quality of life among COPD patients is closely related to various factors. There are many factors that predict the HRQoL and the correlation with other important variables. Predictors of health-related quality of life were debatable in the literature. Aim: This review aimed to describe the correlation with HRQoL and to explore the predictors of HRQoL among patients with COPD. Methods: An integrative review method was conducted. A search protocol was conducted using EBSCO, Pubmed, CINAHL, Ovid, ProQuest, Cochrane, and Google Scholar databases up to October 1, 2019. Results: The review results out of 30 articles that discuss the predictors of HRQoL and 22 articles that discuss the HRQoL correlations with other important variables. The HRQoL predictors are classified according to sociodemographic factors and clinical factors, and also, the correlation and prediction of HRQoL with anxiety, fatigue, and uncertainty. The results of this review showed controversies in predictors between the studies. The most retrieved predictors were age, educational level, comorbidities, socioeconomic status, FEV1% predicted, GOLD stages, and the number of hospitalizations. The variables of anxiety and fatigue were strongly correlated and predicted HRQoL. While uncertainty was not reported as a significant HRQoL predictor. Conclusion: This review provides support about reliable predictors than unreliable one although some predictors still need further research in different races and cultures. Future research is needed to explore whether uncertainty can predict HRQoL among patients with COPD.