When was the Quality of Life Bronchiectasis Questionnaire released?

When Was the Quality of Life Bronchiectasis Questionnaire Released

The Quality of Life Questionnaire-Bronchiectasis (QOL-B) was released in 2014 as the first disease-specific, patient-reported outcome measure for patients with bronchiectasis. 1

Background and Development

The QOL-B was developed through a rigorous process that included:

1. Initial content development based on:

   • Literature reviews
   • Reviews of existing measures
   • Physician input
   • Preliminary cognitive testing with 35 patients with bronchiectasis (Version 1.0)

2. Refinement through:

   • Open-ended patient interviews with 28 participants
   • Content analysis using saturation matrices
   • Development of Version 2.0

3. Psychometric validation:

   • Open-label phase 2 trial with 89 patients treated with aztreonam for inhalation solution
   • Assessment of responsivity to treatment
   • Development of Version 3.0 with 37 items across 8 scales

4. Final cognitive testing:

   • Study with 40 patients
   • Minor change to one social functioning scale item
   • Release of Version 3.1

Structure and Scoring

The QOL-B consists of 37 items distributed across 8 scales:

• Respiratory symptoms
• Physical functioning
• Role functioning
• Emotional functioning
• Social functioning
• Vitality
• Health perceptions
• Treatment burden

For each scale, scores are standardized on a 0-to-100-point scale, with higher scores indicating better health-related quality of life. No total score is calculated.

Validation and Clinical Use

The final psychometric validation of the QOL-B was published in 2015 2, confirming:

• Excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α ≥0.70)
• Strong 2-week test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients ≥0.72)
• Convergent validity with 6-minute walk test
• No floor or ceiling effects for the Respiratory Symptoms scale
• Minimal important difference score of 8.0 points for the Respiratory Symptoms scale

Clinical Significance

The QOL-B has become an important tool in bronchiectasis management:

• The European Respiratory Society guidelines (2017) recognize the importance of quality of life assessment in bronchiectasis, with tools specifically designed for bronchiectasis such as the QOL-B 3

• The British Thoracic Society guidelines (2019) mention that routine monitoring of quality of life should be considered when planning interventions, noting that the QOL-B is a tool specifically for bronchiectasis 3

• Longitudinal studies have demonstrated that the QOL-B can effectively track changes in health-related quality of life over time, with improvements maintained for up to 2 years after initial treatment at specialized care centers 4

The QOL-B has filled an important gap in bronchiectasis care by providing a disease-specific measure that captures the unique aspects of this condition, unlike earlier tools that were adapted from other respiratory conditions.