Validation of the Italian version of Bronchiectasis Quality of Life Questionnaire.

BACKGROUND

Patient-reported outcome measures are essential tools for assessing disease burden in bronchiectasis. The Quality of Life-Bronchiectasis questionnaire (QoL-B) is widely used in clinical research, but a validated Italian version has not been available.

OBJECTIVES

To perform a cross-cultural validation of the Italian QoL-B in a real-world cohort of patients with bronchiectasis.

DESIGN

Prospective observational cross-cultural validation study.

METHODS

Adult patients with bronchiectasis attending a tertiary referral clinic were prospectively enrolled. The Italian QoL-B was administered at baseline (T0) and after 15 days (T1) in clinically stable patients to assess internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Construct validity was evaluated through predefined hypotheses by comparing QoL-B domain scores across clinically relevant subgroups, including exacerbation frequency, dyspnea severity, lung function impairment, and Bronchiectasis Severity Index (BSI) class. Exploratory analyses assessed score variation during exacerbations.

RESULTS

A total of 108 patients were included (median age 64.5 years; 75.9% female). Internal consistency was good across domains (Cronbach's α 0.78-0.89), and test-retest reliability showed stable scores between T0 and T1 with high intraclass correlation coefficients. Construct validity was supported by significant discrimination across disease-burden groups: patients with frequent exacerbations, severe BSI class, or greater dyspnea reported consistently lower scores, particularly in physical functioning and respiratory symptoms domains. The Emotional Functioning domain showed weaker associations with disease severity indicators and was primarily related to mood disorders. QoL-B scores were substantially lower during exacerbations.

CONCLUSION

The Italian QoL-B demonstrates good reliability and construct validity and provides a robust instrument for assessing quality of life in Italian-speaking patients with bronchiectasis.