CAT correlates positively with respiratory rate and is a significant predictor of the impact of COPD on daily life of patients: a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND The pathophysiological changes of COPD tend to worsen with progression, triggering limiting symptoms and implying the decrease in the activities of daily living and quality of life. The COPD Assessment Test (CAT) is a questionnaire designed to measure the impact of COPD on the health status. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the disease through the CAT in a Brazilian sample of COPD patients and to correlate symptoms at rest with the CAT score in these patients. METHODS Study of cases with COPD patients was conducted by pulmonary rehabilitation program (RP). Respiratory rate (RR) and symptoms (dyspnea by Modified Borg Scale Dyspnea Index; symptoms by CAT) were analyzed at the beginning of the RP. RESULTS The study analyzed 28 COPD patients, both genders, age 65.93 ± 7.84 years and many patients ranging from severe and very severe disease. The majority of patients were rated by CAT with low impact-disease (n = 13/46, 4%);medium (n = 11/39, 3%) and the high impact-diseases were observed in a few subjects (n = 4/14.3%). The difference between all CAT scores was significant, p = 0.000. There was a positive correlation between respiratory rate and CAT scores impact-level (r = 0.585, p = 0.001). The results obtained by the Borg Scale revealed a high presence of symptoms in these COPD patients but no association with CAT. CONCLUSION The CAT is a sensitive tool to assess the current health status of COPD patients, and in Southern Brazil it is positively correlated with respiratory rate.