A new study published recently on CHEST evaluated whether the Pulmonary Hypertension Functional Class Self-Report (PH-FC-SR)—a patient-reported version of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Functional Class—captures functional status in a way that reflects patients’ real experiences.
Study Overview
Eighty-nine adults with pulmonary hypertension (Groups 1–5) from the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic completed an online survey including the Pulmonary Hypertension Functional Class (FC) Self-Report, symptom questions, and validated patient-reported outcome measures (EmPHasis-10 and SF-36v2. Clinician-assigned World Health Organisation (WHO) functional class was obtained during routine visits. Researchers assessed how closely the Self report aligned with the World Health Organisation functional class and whether it correlated with symptoms and quality-of-life scores.
Conclusions
The authors concluded that the patient self report is more strongly associated with pulmonary hypertension symptoms and health-related quality of life than the physician-assigned World Health Organisation functional class.
Citation
Crawford R, McLeod L, Yarr S, Morrison R, Wu B, Nelsen AC, Classi P, DuBrock H, Mathai SC, Highland KB. Initial Evaluation of the Pulmonary Hypertension Functional Classification Self-Report (PH-FC-SR) Measurement Properties: A Patient-Focused Measure. Chest. 2025 Nov 27:S0012-3692(25)05804-0. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2025.11.024. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41318058.