Abstract
Background and Importance: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations may be linked to serious consequences. They contribute to disease progression, worsening health status, more hospitalization and are directly linked to COPD-related mortality. Some patients are at particularly high risk. However, the individual risk of exacerbation is difficult to determine.
Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the value of clinical characteristics as predictors of frequent exacerbations (=/> 2/y).
Methods: In 270 patients (mean age 63 ± years; 67% male) with COPD enrolled in The Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Outcomes Cohort of Switzerland (TOPDOCS) different clinical parameters were measured. Differences between COPD patients with frequent (≥2 per year) and less frequent (0-1 per year) exacerbations were assessed.
Results: The ANOVA-p-values of different clinical parameters are shown in the following tables:
| parameter | P (ANOVA) |
| GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) | 0.000 |
| COPD Assessment Test | 0.000 |
| MMRC (Modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale) | 0.000 |
| Short Form-6 dimension V1 questionnaire | 0.000 |
| Short Form-6 dimension V2 questionnaire | 0.000 |
| parameter | P (ANOVA) |
| weight (kg) | 0.004 |
| heart rate (bpm) | 0.000 |
| sO2 (%) | 0.023 |
| FEV1/FVCex Post % Soll | 0.000 |
| Thrombocytes (x10^9/l) | 0.002 |
| Bilirubin (μmol/l) | 0.007 |
Conclusions: The GOLD-classification, CAT-score, MMRC-score and the SF-6D V1 and V2 are significantly associated with exacerbation risk. Also the weight, heart rate, 02-saturation, lung function parameters, the thrombocytes and bilirubin-value appear to contribute further to the prediction of frequent exacerbations.
- Copyright ©the authors 2016
