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Background: Patients with pulmonary diseases often experience fatigue. Severe fatigue is associated with a worse health status and worse physical and social functioning. The study aimed to evaluate the relationship between fatigue and quality of life in patients with nonmalignant pulmonary diseases. Methods: The St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) was used to assess health status and the Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) to measure the level of fatigue. The Shapiro–Wilk test was used to test for normal distribution. Correlations were described as Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Results: The study included 200 consecutive patients (mean age, 57.7) with the following diagnoses: COPD (26%), asthma (36%), obstructive sleep apnoea (19%), pneumonia or bronchitis of various aetiologies (8.5%), bronchiectasis (2.5%), interstitial lung disease (3%). The mean score in the SGRQ was 44.62 ± 24.94. The mean score in the MFIS was 28.64 ± 15.8. The strongest correlations appeared between quality-of-life scales and fatigue as measured by physical functioning (symptoms r = 0.622; activity r = 0.632; impact r = 0.692; p Conclusions: Patients with chronic pulmonary diseases were revealed to have a reduced level of quality of life and an increased level of fatigue. The negative influence of fatigue on quality of life highlights the need for careful and routine assessment of this symptom in pulmonary patients. Treating fatigue may improve quality of life and increase the ability of patients with chronic pulmonary diseases to perform activities in daily life.

Background Metformin is a commonly used drug in diabetes mellitus treatment. Recently it has been suggested that the use of metformin on diabetes mellitus patients may lower the prevalence and slow the progression of AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm) as well as the risk of rupture related mortality. The aim of this studywas to investigate the impact of metformin treatment on the risk of AAA repair related mortality and surgical complications. Methods In this retrospective study, the clinical data of 306 patients, including 77 patients with diabetes mellitus, who underwent abdominal aortic aneurysm repair has been analyzed. Treatment outcomes have been investigated. The diabetes and metformin prescription status has been obtained from the medical history. Patients were divided into three groups: diabetes-free individuals, diabetics treated with metformin and diabetics treated with other glucose lowering drugs. The association between metformin treatment and AAA diameter, surgical complications and mortality were assessed using chi-square independence test and odds ratio analysis. In order to assess which factors are influencing AAA repair related complications and mortality a multi-variables analysis has been performed. Results A significant protective effect of metformin treatment towards AAA repair related mortality (P = 0.019) and complications (P = 0.032) among patients suffering from diabetes mellitus was revealed. These findings were statistically insignificant when considering all groups of patients (diabetes-free individuals, diabetics treated with metformin and diabetics treated with other glucose lowering drugs). Conclusion Metformin may lower the risk of AAA repair related mortality and surgical complications among patients with diabetes.