Aetiology and disease severity are among the determinants of quality of life in bronchiectasis

Quality of life (QoL) is known to be impaired in patients with bronchiectasis, which is generally attributed to exacerbations and chronic pulmonary symptoms. The aim of this study was to determine if aetiology and disease severity are associated with QoL in bronchiectasis.

We conducted a retrospective analysis of clinical stable patients with bronchiectasis. Diagnostic workup into the aetiology of bronchiectasis was conducted according to the current guidelines. QoL was measured by QoL-B questionnaire (QoL-B), data on sputum microbiology, pulmonary function tests and the disease severity were obtained.

The aetiology of bronchiectasis was investigated in the total of 200 patients. The most commonly identified aetiologies were post-infective (39.5%) and idiopathic (12.5%). Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-related bronchiectasis showed a significant lower QoL (P < .05) as compared to the other aetiologies. In the total population, an increasing disease severity as measured by FACED, E-FACED and the bronchiectasis severity index was correlated with a lower QoL.

Our results showed that QoL in bronchiectasis is related both to aetiology, with worse QoL in COPD-related bronchiectasis, and to disease severity, which suggests more attention in advance for these specific patient groups with bronchiectasis.