The aim of this study was to evaluate whether changes in regular physical activity (PA) affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).611 patients (mean age 67.2±8.4 yrs; forced expiratory volume in 1 s 49.7±14.6) completed the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ) and the Medical Outcomes Short Form (SF-36) questionnaire. PA, defined as patients' self-reported regular walking times, was classified as low, moderate and high. After 5 yrs, 391 survivors completed these instruments again.After adjustment for relevant confounders, patients who reported low PA at baseline and who increased their PA over the study period improved their SGRQ and CRQ scores by 15.9 and 8.7 points, respectively. Patients who moved from moderate to high PA improved their SGRQ scores by 18.4 and their CRQ scores by 14.8. Slightly smaller increases were observed for patients who maintained a high level of PA throughout the study period. Maintaining a low level of PA or decreasing PA over the study period was associated with a significant HRQoL decline.Among COPD patients, a reduction in time spent engaging in PA or maintaining a low level may impair HRQoL, whereas an increase in PA can improve HRQoL parameters.

Various parameters have been considered as possible predictors of health-related quality-of-life outcomes after THA in patients with hip osteoarthritis. We hypothesized the preintervention health status is the main and more homogeneous predictor of changes of the different aspects of health-related quality-of-life outcomes, mental health status has an important influence on results, whereas other sociodemographic or clinical factors had only a punctual influence. All patients who fulfilled the selection criteria completed the Medical Outcomes Study SF-36 and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) before and 6 months after the intervention. Seven hundred eighty-eight patients completed the questionnaire before the intervention and 590 completed it (74.9%) at 6 months. The preintervention score in each SF-36 and WOMAC domain and the SF-36 mental health domain predicted changes after the intervention. Female gender, having comorbidities, contralateral hip osteoarthritis, or back pain predicted less improvement on some SF-36 domains. Older age, the presence of contralateral hip osteoarthritis, or back pain predicted less improvement on some of the WOMAC domains. Preintervention health status, measured by the WOMAC or SF-36, and mental health status uniformly predicted health-related quality-of-life changes, whereas some clinical parameters predicted some domains. SF-36 and WOMAC seem to be appropriate tools for predicting THA outcomes. Level of Evidence: Level II, prognostic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Background: More than 40 mathematical indices have been proposed in the hematological literature for discriminating between iron deficiency anemia and thalassemia trait in subjects with microcytic red blood cells (RBCs). None of these discriminant indices is 100% sensitive and specific and also the ranking of the discriminant indices is not consistent. Therefore, we decided to conduct the first meta-analysis of the most frequently used discriminant indices. Methods: An extensive literature search yielded 99 articles dealing with 12 indices that were investigated five or more times. For each discriminant index we calculated the diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and summary ROC analysis was done for comparing the performance of the indices. Results: The ratio of microcytic to hypochromic RBCs (M/H ratio) showed the best performance, DOR=100.8. This was significantly higher than that of all other indices investigated. The RBC index scored second (DOR=47.0), closely followed by the Sirdah index (DOR=46.7) and the Ehsani index (DOR=44.7). Subsequently, there was a group of four indices with intermediate and three with lower DOR. The lowest performance (DOR=6.8) was found for the RDW (Bessman index). Overall, the indices performed better for adults than for children. Conclusions: The M/H ratio outperformed all other discriminant indices for discriminating between iron deficiency anemia and thalassemia trait. Although its sensitivity and specificity are not high enough for making a definitive diagnosis, it is certainly of value for identifying those subjects with microcytic RBC in whom diagnostic tests for confirming thalassemia are indicated.