Abstract
Introduction: COPD is a chronic disease with well described comorbidities and a leading cause of non-elective hospital admission in the UK. We aimed to determine the effects of comorbidity and disease severity, according to GOLD criteria, on the LOS and readmission rates in patients admitted with exacerbations of COPD.
Methods: Data was prospectively collected on 119 patients admitted to a large teaching hospital between November and December 2015.
Results: The mean patient age was 70.5 years and the mean FEV1 was 48% predicted (severe/stage III). 40 patients (33%) were readmitted in the 30 days following discharge, and of these 18 had more than 1 readmission. 95 patients (80%) had more than 1 comorbidity (mean 2.6 per patient, range 1-8), and 11 (8%) patients died following their admission. The mean LOS was 5.5 days (range 0 – 24) and the number of comorbidities did not correlate with LOS, but severe disease was associated with an increased LOS.
Conclusion: Increasing severity of COPD was associated with an increased LOS, and there was no significant relationship between the number of comorbidities and LOS or readmissions.
- Copyright ©the authors 2016
