TY - JOUR T1 - Cognitive decline in stable and exacerbating COPD vs. controls JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p567 AU - James W. Dodd AU - Rebecca A. Charlton AU - Martin van den Broek AU - Paul W. Jones Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p567.abstract N2 - Background: Poor cognitive function does not mean that decline has occurred. This is the first study in COPD to test for the presence of cognitive decline using formal neuropsychological assessment.Methods: Neuropsychological tests were performed in stable COPD patients (COPD_S n=50), patients hospitalised with an acute exacerbation (COPD_E n=20) and controls (CTRL_S n=20). Pre-morbid cognition was estimated from adult reading ability, which is resistant to cognitive decline. Performances significantly below predicted ability (p<0.05) are judged to have declined.Results: The two COPD groups were similar in age, gender and pack yrs, but COPD_E had lower FEV1pp and PaO2. Frequency of decline in working memory was not significantly different between the three groups (Table 1). More exacerbating patients showed decline in processing speed than stable patients or controls (p=0.01) (figure).View this table:Table 1Conclusion: Over half of patients prior to discharge with exacerbation and a quarter of stable patients with COPD exhibited significant cognitive decline in processing speed. It is unclear if the decline was acute, chronic or reversible. ER -