Em PH asis-10 is associated with clinical outcome measures in pulmonary hypertension

Introduction: em PH asis-10 is a newly validated outcome measure for assessing health status in pulmonary hypertension (PH). It consists of 10 items on a semantic differential six-point scale (0–5); scaling range 0-50, higher scores representing worse health status. This study examines the relationship between em PH asis-10 and relevant clinical measures of disease severity and impact. Methods: 225 patients (mean age 59±1; 69% female) with PH (39% idiopathic, congenital 21%, connective tissue 19%, other 21%), completed em PH asis-10, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD), Dyspnoea-12 (D-12), WHO Functional Class (FC) and six-minute walk distance (6MWD). We examined the ability of emPHasis-10 to distinguish subgroups of PH patients with differing disease severity and impact. Results: em PH asis-10 scores discriminated subgroups of patients stratified on FC (ANOVA F=1.73; p<0.001); mean difference between FC II and FC III was 11.7 and between FC III and FC IV was 7.6. Participants who were in fulltime work had significantly lower em PH asis-10 scores (n=25, mean=19.6±12) compared to those not in any work (n=154, mean=30±10) (p<0.001). em PH asis-10 scores where significantly higher in patients receiving oxygen therapy (n=86, mean 31) compared to those not receiving oxygen (n=129, mean=25) (p=0.001). em PH asis-10 correlations were moderate for 6MWD (r = -041) and strong for psychological distress (HAD r = 0.77) and breathlessness (r = 0.74). Conclusions: The em PH asis-10 is sensitive to differences in clinical parameters. It is strongly associated with measures of PH impact and should provide a useful tool for patient assessment in busy PH clinics.