Chest
Original ResearchCOPDComorbidities and Short-term Prognosis in Patients Hospitalized for Acute Exacerbation of COPD: The EPOC en Servicios de Medicina Interna (ESMI) Study
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
The EPOC en Servicios de Medicina Interna (ESMI) study (ie, COPD in Internal Medicine Services study) is a longitudinal, observational, multicenter study, conducted in 70 ED and internal medicine services in Spain, that included the first 10 consecutive patients seen for a COPD exacerbation during a 1-year period (October 2009-October 2010). Exacerbation was defined as a change in the symptoms of patients, beyond daily variations and requiring a change in regular medication.9 Inclusion criteria
Results
Overall, 679 patients were screened, and 606 were included. Fifteen patients were excluded for having an incomplete minimum data set, and another 58 cases were unable to perform spirometry or did not fulfill spirometric criteria for COPD. In 48 cases, spirometry was not available within the 6-month period before admission and could not be performed between discharge and follow-up visit, but a prior diagnosis of COPD with spirometric confirmation was available. These patients were included in
Discussion
Our study confirms the high prevalence of comorbidity in patients hospitalized for exacerbation of COPD and its importance in relation to short-term prognosis in this population, namely to the need for a readmission or mortality within 3 months after hospital discharge. Although previous studies have shown the relationship between comorbidity and posthospital mortality, these studies have usually been based on long-term follow-up.7, 12, 13 Other significant predictors of mortality such as age,
Acknowledgments
Author contributions: Dr Almagro had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
Dr Almagro: contributed to study design, analysis and interpretation of the data, and writing of the manuscript
Dr Cabrera: contributed to data collection and review of the manuscript.
Dr Diez: contributed to data collection and review of the manuscript.
Dr Boixeda: contributed to data collection and review of the manuscript.
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Funding/Support: This work was supported by Chiesi España.
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A complete list of study investigators is provided in e-Appendix 1.