Factors Associated With Hospital Admission for Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Emergency Department Visits Due to Dyspnea: Association with Inhalation Therapy in COPD and Cases with Adverse Drug Reactions

Purpose

Dyspnea is a leading symptom of COPD that causes presentations in emergency departments or negatively impacts on them. Guideline-based inhalation therapies are intended to reduce dyspnea in COPD patients. This study analyzed how common guideline recommended inhalation therapy regimens are occurring in clinical practice among COPD patients presenting to emergency departments due to adverse drug reactions in polytherapy using data of the German ADRED database.

Patients and Methods

In total, 269 COPD cases were identified. In a further analysis, all cases were analyzed for documented GOLD stage and guideline-recommended inhalation therapy for COPD. Dyspnea and other symptoms identified during ED presentation were analyzed and compared between patients who did and did not receive the guideline’s recommended inhalation therapy.

Results

In this observation, 41% (n = 46) of all 112 cases with a documented COPD and GOLD stage received an underdosed therapy according to current guidelines. Dyspnea was the most common identified symptom (32%, n = 36) in this cohort and occurred more often in patients who received an underdosage of inhalation therapy (p < 0.01).

Conclusion

Patients with COPD presenting to ED with ADRs show a high rate of non-guideline-recommended inhalation therapy and present more often with dyspnea compared to those COPD patients who received an adequate dosing of inhalation therapy.

The five-repetition sit-to-stand test is a predictive factor of severe exacerbations in COPD

BACKGROUND

Although the six-minute-walk test (6MWT) has been used to predict chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations, additional research is necessary to identify more rapid, simpler tests that are directly associated with exacerbations, such as the five-repetition sit-to-stand (5STS) test and 4-m gait speed (4MGS) test.

AIMS

To determine the ability of the 5STS and 4MGS tests in predicting severe exacerbations in stable COPD over the following year, and to assess the ability of the best prognostic test to identify patients at high risk of hospital admission correctly.

METHODS

This prospective study included 137 patients with stable COPD. Multiple logistic regression models were constructed to assess whether the 6MWT, 5STS, and 4MGS tests were associated with severe exacerbations in the year following the test. Receiver-operating characteristic curves and the area under the curve (AUC) were evaluated to determine the accuracy of each test for identifying patients with severe exacerbations.

RESULTS

Scores of <350 m for the 6WMT and ⩽2 for the 5STS test were associated with severe exacerbations in the model adjusted for age and the number of exacerbations in the previous year. The 5STS test and the 6MWT had very similar predictive and discriminative abilities. Odds ratios were 3.20 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.14-8.96) and 3.84 (95% CI 1.14-12.94) and AUCs were 0.793 (95% CI 0.704-0.882) and 0.783 (95% CI 0.686-0.879), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The 5STS test predicted the risk of severe exacerbation within the following year among patients with COPD. The 5STS test could replace the 6MWT for identifying patients at high risk of hospital admission.

Costs of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in relation to compliance with guidelines: a study in the primary care setting

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to analyse the economic impact of nonadherence to the Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was carried out on a claim database. Patients aged at least 40 years with a diagnosis of COPD were eligible for this analysis. Demographics, medical data and use of resources were collected and direct and indirect costs were analysed (from January 2008 to June 2009). A probabilistic multivariate sensitivity analysis of avoided costs was carried out. All results are presented in annualized form and costs are expressed in Euros (2009).

RESULTS

A total of 1365 patients were included, 79.5% were men. The mean age (±standard deviation) was 71.4 (±10.3) years, the mean forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) was 65.3% and they had a COPD history of 5.5 (±2.9) years. Patients were divided into an adherent group and a nonadherent group depending on whether therapeutic recommendations according to severity defined in the GOLD guidelines (2007) were followed. Patients in both groups were also classified as having stage II (FEV1 < 80% and < 50%) or stage III disease (FEV1 < 50% and ≥ 30%). The total annual drug cost per patient in the nonadherent group was €771.5 while it was only €426.4 for the adherent group. The average direct cost per patient per year in the nonadherent stage II group was €1465 (±971) and it rose to €2942 (±1918) for patients in the nonadherent group with stage III disease. The potential saving from the implementation of the GOLD guidelines in stage II COPD amounted to €758 per patient per year (68% saving on drug cost). In contrast, the cost for patients with stage III disease was higher in the adherent group versus the nonadherent group (€2468).

CONCLUSIONS

The cost of COPD may vary according to compliance with the GOLD guidelines. The cost observed for patients with stage II disease is higher than expected in patients who adhere to treatment, but patients with stage III disease treated according to the GOLD guidelines had significantly higher treatment costs.