Table 2– Independent risk factors of death 48 months after hospital admission for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (multivariate analysis)
Relative risk (95% CI)p-value
Patient characteristics
 Age (versus <60 years)
  60–80 years1.73 (1.35–2.20)<0.0001
  ≥80 years2.99 (2.31–3.89)<0.0001
 BMI (versus 20–25 kg·m−2)
  ≤20 kg·m−21.21 (0.99–1.47)0.06
  25–30 kg·m−20.80 (0.66–0.97)0.02
  ≥30 kg·m−20.75 (0.60–0.94)0.01
 Comorbidity (versus none)
  GORD0.62 (0.40–0.94)0.03
  Cardiovascular diseases#1.35 (1.16–1.58)0.0001
  Lung cancer2.08 (1.43–3.01)0.0001
COPD characteristics
 Hospital admission for acute exacerbation(s) within the previous year (versus 0)
  01
  11.28 (1.07–1.53)0.007
  21.45 (1.15–1.81)0.001
  31.76 (1.31–2.35)0.0002
  ≥41.91 (1.44–2.53)<0.0001
Acute exacerbation characteristics
 Severity signs within the first 24 h (versus none)
  Use of secondary respiratory muscles1.19 (1.01–1.40)0.03
  Lower-limb oedema1.74 (1.44–2.12)<0.0001
Hospitalisation characteristics
 Oxygen therapy at discharge (versus none)2.09 (1.79–2.45)<0.0001

  • BMI: body mass index; GORD: gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. #: ischaemic heart disease or congestive heart failure.