Title:Clinical and Quality of Life Differences in Patients with COPD With and Without a Background of Hospitalization in the Last Year
Volume: 16
Issue: 4
Author(s): Jhonatan Betancourt-Peña*, Juan Carlos Ávila-Valencia, Jorge Karim Assis and David Alejandro Escobar-Vidal
Affiliation:
- Faculty of Health and Rehabilitation, Institucion Universitaria Escuela Nacional del Deporte, Cali,Colombia
Keywords:
Obstructive pulmonary disease, hospitalization, quality of life, comorbidity, exercise test, COPD.
Abstract:
Introduction: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the fourth leading
cause of death worldwide. An upward trend is estimated by 2030. One of the causes of mortality is
the exacerbations of symptoms that result in hospitalizations. These hospitalizations reduce the
quality of life, limit performance in daily life, and increase the costs for the health system and the
patient.
Objective: This study aimed to determine the differences between hospitalized and non-hospitalized
patients with a medical diagnosis of COPD, considering some sociodemographic and clinical
variables, and survival rates.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, which included patients diagnosed with COPD
who initiated pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) from January to September 2018. The patients were divided
into two groups: patients with one or more exacerbations that led to the hospitalization
(COPD-H) and patients without hospitalizations in the last year (COPD-NH).
Results: There were 128 participants (78 males and 50 females), with a mean age of 71.10±(9.34)
in the COPD-H group and 71.30±(8.91) in the COPD-NH group. When comparing both groups,
COPD-NH had a higher socioeconomic status (p=0.041), reporting a higher FEV1 44.71± (14.97),
p=0.047, and comorbidities according to the COTE index (p<0.001).
Conclusions: The patients with the highest number of hospitalizations belonged to a lower socioeconomic
stratum and had a higher number of comorbidities. Therefore, it is necessary to identify these
factors at the beginning of PR.
