Couples' ratings of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients' quality of life

The purpose of this study was to compare perceptual differences between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and their non-COPD spouses regarding the patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Sixty-seven community-dwelling COPD patients and their non-COPD spouses participated. Participants completed the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) and the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). On both questionnaires, spouses' perceptions of patients' HRQOL were lower than those of the patients themselves. At the bivariate level, statistically significant differences were found on the SIP in the physical domain and on the SGRQ in the psychosocial domain. At the multivariate level, the age and gender of both the patients and spouses accounted for 22% of score differences in the psychosocial domain of HRQOL for the SGRQ. Discordance was greatest among the oldest couples with female non-COPD spouses. Domain-specific HRQOL differences provide direction for supportive nursing interventions to enhance coping among COPD couples.