QUALITY-OF-LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RESPIRATORY-DISEASE - THE SPANISH VERSION OF THE CHRONIC RESPIRATORY QUESTIONNAIRE (CRQ)

The aim of this study was to translate the Chronic Respiratory Questio nnaire (CRQ) into Spanish and to test its measurement properties. The study was performed in 60 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) mean+/-SD, 35+/ -14% of reference value), A rigorous process of forward and back trans lation and review produced an easily comprehensible questionnaire, whi ch was administered together with measures of pulmonary function and e xercise capacity, The patients were randomly allocated to one of two g roups: 30 received respiratory rehabilitation and the other 30 receive d standard community care only, Weak to moderate statistically signifi cant correlations (0.2-0.38) were found between the domains of the CRQ and pulmonary function and exercise measures. For the three CRQ domai ns that measure differences between patients at a point in time, Crohn bach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficients were: fatigue 0.8 0 and 0.80; emotional function 0.86 and 0.68; and mastery domains 0.84 and 0.67, respectively, Scores remained stable in patients who were d eemed clinically stable, and showed large statistically significant im provement (p<0.0001) in patients in the rehabilitation programme, Only low correlations were found between the changes in CRQ and the change s in pulmonary function and exercise capacity, The index of responsive ness was 0.92 for fatigue, and 0.91 for dyspnoea, emotional function a nd mastery, In conclusion, the Spanish translation of the Chronic Resp iratory Questionnaire is likely to be useful for measuring differences between patients, and particularly for measuring the effects of inter vention on quality of life in chronic respiratory disease.