Health status measurement: sensitivity of the self-reported Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ-SR) in pulmonary rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND A self-reported CRQ (CRQ-SR) has recently been developed and found to be a reproducible and reliable measure of health status. This study explores both the sensitivity of the CRQ-SR and relative sensitivity compared with the conventional interviewer led CRQ (CRQ-IL) in patients undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation. METHODS Eighty patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who had been referred for pulmonary rehabilitation completed the CRQ-SR at initial assessment and at the end of the 7 week programme. A further 35 patients completed both the CRQ-SR and the CRQ-IL, administered 1 week apart, before starting rehabilitation and again at the end of the programme. RESULTS There were large statistically and clinically significant changes in mean score per dimension following rehabilitation in all dimensions of the CRQ-SR (dyspnoea mean difference 0.87 (95% CI 0.61 to 1.14); fatigue 0.76 (0.53 to 1.0); emotion 0.60 (0.35 to 0.86); mastery 0.76 (0.52 to 1.0); p<0.001). Similar results were found in the comparison of the sensitivity of the CRQ-SR and the CRQ-IL, with large changes in mean score per dimension following rehabilitation for both versions of the questionnaire (p<0.005). No significant differences were seen in the magnitude of change between the two formats of the questionnaire (p>0.05). CONCLUSION The self-reported CRQ is as sensitive to change as the interviewer led CRQ in patients undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation but has the advantage of being less time consuming to administer.