International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2016
Comparative StudyManagement of COPD, equal treatment across age, gender, and social situation? A register study.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive chronic disease where treatment decisions should be based on disease severity and also should be equally distributed across age, gender, and social situation. The aim of this study was to determine to what extent patients with COPD are offered evidence-based interventions and how the interventions are distributed across demographic and clinical factors in the sample. Baseline registrations of demographic, disease-related, and management-related variables of 7,810 patients in the Swedish National Airway Register are presented. ⋯ Thus, this data shows that the practical implementation of structured guidelines for treatment of COPD varies, to some extent, with regard to age and gender. Also, disease characteristics influence guideline implementation for each individual patient. Quality registers have the strength to follow-up on compliance with guidelines and show whether an intervention needs to be adapted prior to implementation in health care practice.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2016
Incidence and outcomes of patients hospitalized with COPD exacerbation with and without pneumonia.
Pneumonia may be a major contributor to hospitalizations for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation and influence their outcomes. ⋯ Pneumonia is frequent among patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbations and is associated with increased health care utilization and higher mortality. Nonpneumonic COPD exacerbations predict increased risk of subsequent exacerbations.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2016
Association of blood eosinophils and plasma periostin with FEV1 response after 3-month inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta2-agonist treatment in stable COPD patients.
COPD patients with increased airway eosinophilic inflammation show a favorable response to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in combination with a long-acting bronchodilator. Recent studies have demonstrated a significant correlation of sputum eosinophilia with blood eosinophils and periostin. We investigated whether high blood eosinophils and plasma periostin were associated with an improvement in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) after 3-month treatment with ICS/long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA) in stable COPD patients. ⋯ High blood eosinophils and high plasma periostin were associated with improved lung function after 3-month ICS/LABA treatment. In particular, high blood eosinophils, in combination with age and baseline lung function parameters, might be a possible biomarker for identification of COPD patients with favorable FEV1 improvement in response to ICS/LABA treatment.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2016
Hand grip strength is associated with forced expiratory volume in 1 second among subjects with COPD: report from a population-based cohort study.
Cardiovascular diseases and skeletal muscle dysfunction are common comorbidities in COPD. Hand grip strength (HGS) is related to general muscle strength and is associated with cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality, while the results from small selected COPD populations are contradictory. The aim of this population-based study was to compare HGS among the subjects with and without COPD, to evaluate HGS in relation to COPD severity, and to evaluate the impact of heart disease. ⋯ In this population-based study, the subjects with GOLD 3-4 had lower HGS than the subjects without COPD. Among those with COPD, HGS was associated with FEV1% of predicted value but not heart disease, and the pattern was similar in both sexes.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2016
The changing nature of chronic care and coproduction of care between primary care professionals and patients with COPD and their informal caregivers.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether care delivery in accordance with a care model is associated with co-productive relationships between professionals and COPD patients and their informal caregivers. A co-productive relationship refers to productive patient-professional interaction or shared decision making. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014 among 411 patients (out of 981) enrolled in the Dutch COPD care program Kennemer Lucht and 62 professionals treating them (out of 97). ⋯ Furthermore, patients' perceptions of the quality of chronic care were associated with the existence of productive interaction with health care professionals (β=0.7; P≤0.001). The changing nature of chronic care is associated with coproduction of care, leading to the development of more productive relationships between primary care professionals and COPD patients and their informal caregivers. Further research is necessary to determine how best to sustain these developments.