The St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire in Pulmonary Sarcoidosis

Area of Science:

• Pulmonary Medicine
• Clinical Trials
• Health Outcomes Research

Background:

• The Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) is widely used for assessing health status in patients with pulmonary diseases.
• Its specific performance characteristics in sarcoidosis, a chronic granulomatous disease affecting the lungs, are not well-established.
• Evaluating SGRQ's utility in sarcoidosis is crucial for accurate patient monitoring and treatment evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the performance characteristics of the Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) in patients with symptomatic sarcoidosis.
• To determine the correlation between SGRQ scores and other established clinical and functional measures of sarcoidosis severity and progression.
• To assess the responsiveness of the SGRQ to changes in clinical status over time in a sarcoidosis cohort.

Main Methods:

• A clinical trial involving 138 adults with symptomatic sarcoidosis was conducted.
• Data on SGRQ scores were collected at baseline and week 24.
• Concurrent assessments included forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), dyspnea scores (ATS and Borg CR 10), 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), and the SF-36 Physical Component Summary (SF-36 PCS).

Main Results:

• At baseline, the mean SGRQ score was 46.8, indicating significant impairment in health status.
• SGRQ total scores at baseline showed significant correlations with % predicted FVC, FEV1, ATS dyspnea score, Borg's CR 10 dyspnea score, 6MWD, and SF-36 PCS (absolute r values ranging from 0.32 to 0.80, all p < 0.001).
• Changes in SGRQ scores from baseline to week 24 also significantly correlated with changes in these clinical parameters (absolute r values ranging from 0.20 to 0.45, all p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• The SGRQ demonstrated significant correlations with various clinical outcome measures at baseline in sarcoidosis patients.
• Improvements in lung function (e.g., FVC % predicted) were associated with improvements in SGRQ scores, indicating responsiveness to treatment.
• These findings support the use of the SGRQ as a reliable and valid endpoint for clinical trials in sarcoidosis.