International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2011
Severity of COPD at initial spirometry-confirmed diagnosis: data from medical charts and administrative claims.
This study was conducted to determine COPD severity at the time of diagnosis as confirmed by spirometry in patients treated in a US managed care setting. ⋯ The results demonstrate a very low incidence of early-stage diagnosis, confirmed by a pulmonary function test, of COPD in a large US sample and support calls for increased screening for COPD and treatment upon diagnosis.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2011
Excessive visceral fat accumulation in advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Previous studies have suggested links between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease, and abdominal obesity. Although abdominal visceral fat is thought to be associated with cardiovascular risk factors, the degree of visceral fat accumulation in patients with COPD has not been directly studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the abdominal visceral fat accumulation and the association between visceral fat and the severity and changes in emphysema in COPD patients. ⋯ COPD patients have excessive visceral fat, which is retained in patients with more advanced stages of COPD or severe emphysema despite the absence of obesity.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2011
Outcome of pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD patients with severely impaired health status.
Effects of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with severely impaired health status are poorly documented since these patients are usually excluded from clinical trials. This retrospective, observational study aims to study the impact of disease on health status and the effects of PR on COPD patients referred to a tertiary center for PR in The Netherlands. ⋯ The present study provides data to indicate that COPD patients may substantially benefit from rehabilitation in a tertiary pulmonary rehabilitation center, despite a severely impaired health status and high level of health-care utilization, in which prior treatment in primary and secondary care have failed to improve health status. Individual rehabilitation responses can only partially be predicted on the basis of baseline characteristics. Consequently, no firm conclusions can be drawn from this study with respect to the selection of candidates that could be deemed eligible for this rehabilitation program when entering the program.
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Visual and auditory analysis of respiratory sound signals promises improved detection of certain types of lung diseases. LabVIEW software was used to design a system that monitors the respiratory activity of the patient. The program developed calculates the respiratory rate, displays the time expanded waveform of the lung sound, and computes the fast Fourier transform and short-time Fourier transform to present the power spectrum and spectrogram respectively. These parameters are transmitted synchronously to the remote station using the Internet for online monitoring of the patient.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2011
Disability related to COPD tool (DIRECT): towards an assessment of COPD-related disability in routine practice.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a worldwide public health concern. It is also a major source of disability that is often overlooked, depriving patients of effective treatments. This study describes the development and validation of a questionnaire specifically assessing COPD-related disability. ⋯ DIRECT is a promising tool that could help enhance the management of COPD patients by integrating an evaluation of the COPD-related disability into daily practice.