Mortality of Finnish Bronchiectasis Patients

Abstract

Abstract Background Patients suffering frequent exacerbations of bronchiectasis (BE) are likely to experience more negative effects on quality of life and utilize more healthcare. We aimed to study the predictive factors for mortality in a cohort of Finnish BE patients. Methods In this 4-year follow-up study, the data of non-cystic fibrosis adult BE patients were collected annually from medical records. Finnish translation of the disease-specific quality of life-bronchiectasis (QoL-B) questionnaire, the bronchiectasis severity index (BSI), FACED score, E-FACED score, and modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnoea scale were used. Cox’s regression analysis was used to evaluate factors with mortality. Results Overall, 79% of 95 BE patients were women with mean age of 69 years (SD ± 13). During the follow-up, eight patients died (8.4%). High scores of FACED (HR 1.9, CI 1.2–3.1), E-FACED (HR 1.6, CI 1.1–2.2), BSI (HR 1.2, CI 1.0–1.4) and mMRC (HR 3.4, CI 1.6–7.3) were predictive for mortality. The specific aetiology of BE, however, does not affect mortality. Low score of domains in QoL-B, physical (p < 0.01), vitality (p = 0.01), respiration (p = 0.03) and health (p < 0.01), were correlated with mortality. Conclusion BSI or equivalent estimation for disease severity gives more specific predictive values for survival. In our study, FACED and mMRC were the strongest predictive tools for BE mortality. Patients with poor survival had poorer QoL.