Sociodemographic factors affecting the quality of life of patients with asthma

Bartosz Uchmanowicz,¹ Bernard Panaszek,² Izabella Uchmanowicz,¹ Joanna Rosinczuk<sup>3

1</sup>Department of Clinical Nursing, ²Department and Clinic of Internal Diseases, Geriatry and Allergology, ³Department of Nervous System Diseases, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland

Background: In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the subjective quality of life (QoL) of patients with bronchial asthma. Patients diagnosed with asthma experience a number of problems with regard to everyday activities and functions, which adversely affects their health-related QoL.
Aim: The aim of this study is to analyze the sociodemographic factors affecting the QoL of patients with asthma.
Patients and methods: The study comprised of 100 patients (73 females and 27 males) aged 18–84 years (mean age 45.7 years) treated in the Department and Clinic of Internal Diseases, Geriatrics and Allergology, Wroclaw Medical University. All patients with asthma who met the inclusion criteria participated in the study. We used medical record analysis and two questionnaires: the asthma quality of life questionnaire (AQLQ) and the asthma control test. Up-to-date sociodemographic data were collected from all participants, including sex, age, marital status, education, and sources of income.
Results: The sociodemographic variables that correlated positively with QoL in all domains of the AQLQ were professional activity and higher education level of respondents. Factors that negatively influenced the AQLQ domains were older age and lack of professional activity.
Conclusion: This study shows that age, physical work, and lack of professional activity decreased the QoL in this patient group. It was found that higher education contributes to better QoL scores.

Keywords: bronchial asthma, health related quality of life, sociodemographic factors