scholarly journals Phenotypic Variation in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Primary Care

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmylou Beekman ◽  
Ilse Mesters ◽  
Mark G. Spigt ◽  
Eva A. M. van Eerd ◽  
Rik Gosselink ◽  
...  

Introduction. Despite the high number of inactive patients with COPD, not all inactive patients are referred to physical therapy, unlike recommendations of general practitioner (GP) guidelines. It is likely that GPs take other factors into account, determining a subpopulation that is treated by a physical therapist (PT). The aim of this study is to explore the phenotypic differences between inactive patients treated in GP practice and inactive patients treated in GP practice combined with PT. Additionally this study provides an overview of the phenotype of patients with COPD in PT practice.Methods. In a cross-sectional study, COPD patient characteristics were extracted from questionnaires. Differences regarding perceived health status, degree of airway obstruction, exacerbation frequency, and comorbidity were studied in a subgroup of 290 inactive patients and in all 438 patients.Results. Patients treated in GP practice combined with PT reported higher degree of airway obstruction, more exacerbations, more vascular comorbidity, and lower health status compared to patients who were not referred to and treated by a PT.Conclusion. Unequal patient phenotypes in different primary care settings have important clinical implications. It can be carefully concluded that other factors, besides the level of inactivity, play a role in referral to PT.

2020 ◽  
pp. 67-68
Author(s):  
Moisés Acuña-Kaldman

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Many studies have described asthma-COPD overlap (ACO) among patients diagnosed with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but less so in broad populations of patients with chronic airway obstruction. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> This study aimed to (i) examine the prevalence of ACO, asthma, and COPD phenotypes among subjects referred for pulmonary function testing (PFT), who had airway obstruction in spirometry (forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV<sub>1</sub>]/forced vital capacity [FVC] < 0.7); and (ii) delineate the therapeutic approach of each group. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Cross-sectional study of patients who were referred for PFT at the Rokach Institute, in Jerusalem. Working definitions were as follows: (a) COPD: post-bronchodilator (BD) FEV<sub>1</sub>/FVC < 0.70; (b) asthma: physician-diagnosed asthma before age 40 and/or minimum post-BD increase in FEV<sub>1</sub> or FVC of 12% and 200 mL; and (c) ACO: the combination of the 2. Demographics, smoking habits, episodes of exacerbation, health-related quality of life (HRQL), and respiratory medication utilization were analysed. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Of 3,669 referrals from January 1 to April 30, 2017, 1,220 had airway obstruction of which 215 were included. Of these, 82 (38.1%) had ACO, 49 (22.8%) asthma, and 84 (39.1%) COPD. ACO subjects tended to (a) be predominantly female; (b) be older than asthmatics, (c) be smokers; (d) have worse HRQL in the activity domain; and (d) have more exacerbations. Treatment of ACO and COPD patients differed from that of asthmatics, but not from each other, in the proportion of subjects on maintenance treatment, use of LABA, LAMA, and ICS, alone or in combination, and in the number of inhaler devices used by patients. Conclusion: ACO represented > 1/3 of patients referred for PFT. Despite a clearly identifiable phenotype, ACO patients received treatment similar to COPD patients, suggesting poor ACO identification. Our data emphasize the need to raise the awareness of ACO among clinicians, in order to guide better recognition and appropriate treatment in individual patients.


Author(s):  
Melvin K Mathews ◽  
Abubaker Siddiq ◽  
Bharathi D R

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is preventable and treatable disease state characterized by air flow limitation that is not fully reversible. Severity of the symptoms is increased during exacerbations. Objectives: The purpose of the study is to assess and improve the knowledge regarding COPD among study subjects. Materials and Methods: A Cross-sectional interventional study was carried out among the peoples in selected areas of the Chitradurga city for a period of six months. Result: A total 207 subjects enrolled in the study in that 155 male and 52 females. In our study mean score of post test was more (5.87±1.68) when compare to pre-test (2.63±1.46) which show significant increase in their knowledge after educating them (p=0.000). A total of 207 subjects were enrolled into the study. SPSS Software was used to calculate the statistical estimation. Paired t-test was used to detect the association status of different variables. Conclusion: The relatively good level of COPD awareness needs to be maintained to facilitate future prevention and control of the disease. This study had identified that negative illness perceptions should be targeted, so that they will not avoid patients from seeking for COPD treatment and adhere to it. Key words: Cross sectional study, Knowledge, practice, COPD.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 00299-2019
Author(s):  
David C. Currow ◽  
Miriam J. Johnson ◽  
Allan Pollack ◽  
Diana H. Ferreira ◽  
Slavica Kochovska ◽  
...  

Chronic breathlessness is a disabling syndrome, prevalent in people with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Regular, low-dose, oral sustained-release morphine is approved in Australia to reduce symptomatic chronic breathlessness. We aimed to determine the current prescribing patterns of opioids for chronic breathlessness in COPD in Australian general practice and to define any associated patient and practitioner characteristics.Five years (2011 to 2016) of the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health database, an Australian national, continual, cross-sectional study of clinical care in general practice were used. The database included 100 consecutive clinical encounters from almost 1000 general practitioners annually (n=488 100 encounters). Descriptive analyses with subsequent regression models were generated.Breathlessness as a patient-defined reason for encounter was identified in 621 of 4522 encounters where COPD was managed. Opioids were prescribed in 309 of 4522 encounters where COPD was managed (6.8%; (95% CI) 6.1–7.6), of which only 17 were prescribed for breathlessness, and the rest for other conditions almost entirely related to pain. Patient age (45–64 years versus age 80+ years, OR 1.68; 1.19–2.36), Commonwealth Concession Card holders (OR 1.70; 1.23–2.34) and socioeconomic disadvantage (OR 1.30; 1.01–1.68) were associated with increased likelihood of opioid prescription at COPD encounters. The rate of opioid prescriptions rose over the 5 years of study.In primary care encounters for COPD, opioids were prescribed in 6.8% of cases, but almost never for breathlessness. These data create a baseline against which to compare changes in prescribing as the treatment of chronic breathlessness evolves.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 228-233
Author(s):  
Jhonatan Betancourt-Peña ◽  
Juan Carlos Ávila-Valencia ◽  
Jorge Karim Assis ◽  
David Alejandro Escobar-Vidal

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). Conclusion: 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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 2989-2994
Author(s):  
U. Sivakumar ◽  
Rinku Garg ◽  
Sunita Nighute

Objective: COPD has been recognized not only as a lung but also a systemic disease. Smoking is a major cause of COPD, cardiovascular disease, stroke and peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at the Department of Physiology, Santosh Medical College diagnosed with COPD using Spirometry was recruited for the study with a sample size of 130 patients. Results: Of the 130 participants, the mean age was 51.73 years of all COPD patients. Thirty-seven (28.46%) were diagnosed to have PAD. Twenty-five patients (19.23%) were overweight, 10 (7.69%) were obese. All the patients included in the study had history of smoking, including current (n= 67, 51.5%) and former (n= 35, 26.9%) smokers. There was no patient with severe respiratory failure in our study. The most common cardiovascular co-morbidity was hypertension (n= 67, 51.5%), followed by diabetes mellitus (n =28, 21.5%), and dyslipidaemia (n= 35, 26.92%). PAD seen in different stages of COPD stage I –IV were 2.94%, 55.88%, 61.76%, 20.58% respectively. Conclusion: The diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease in COPD is important because this is an entity that limits the patient’s physical activity and impairs their quality of life. Lung function was not associated with PAD in patients with COPD. Abnormal ABI results were associated with a higher prevalence of risk factors and more severe lung disease. Keywords: Peripheral Arterial Disease, Smoking, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.


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