INTRODUCTION: Patients' quality of life may be related to their clinical status and level of infection, and to the infecting microorganism. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the bacteriological profile of sputum from patients with bronchiectasis and to determine the effect of such bacteria on in vitro transport and patients' quality of life. METHODS: Patients with bronchiectasis were evaluated by means of quality-of-life questionnaires and sputum bacterial culturing and in vitro transport. RESULTS: Nineteen patients with bronchiectasis (mean age: 38.6 ± 16 years) were included in the study. A group of 10 patients with potentially pathogenic bacteria (group I) was compared with a group of 9 patients with nonpathogenic bacteria (group II). Group I presented lower relative transport velocity and greater displacement per cough maneuver than did group II (p < 0.05). Using the St. George's Hospital respiratory questionnaire, group I presented poorer quality of life in the impact domain (p < 0.05). Using the World Health Organization's Quality-of-Life brief questionnaire, group I also presented poorer quality of life in the physical domain. Regarding sputum color, the darker the sputum was, the lower the relative mucociliary transport velocity was (r = -0.695; p = 0.007) and the greater the displacement per cough maneuver was (r = 0.756; p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients with bronchiectasis and potentially pathogenic bacteria in sputum present poorer quality of life and worse mucociliary transport in the frog palate, but better sputum displacement in the cough mechanism, in comparison with patients without potentially pathogenic bacteria.
bronchiectasis; quality of life; mucociliary clearance; sputum
