Chest
Original ResearchPatient Understanding, Detection, and Experience of COPD Exacerbations: An Observational, Interview-Based Study
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
This was a cross-sectional study conducted in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom involving men and women aged ≥ 50 years with a diagnosis of COPD (according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease guidelines1). Patients were recruited prospectively by 7 general practitioners and 23 respiratory physicians during normal clinic visits by convenience sampling. During this visit, physicians discussed the study with their patients and, after assessing their
Analysis
The aim was to recruit 125 patients (25 patients per country) according to the specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. It was predefined that 50% of patients should be aged 50 to 65 years, and 50 to 75% of patients completing the interview should be men.
The face-to-face interviews were transcribed verbatim and their thematic content analyzed. To give some indication of concerns, patients were asked to assess their worries about exacerbations using a linear, subjective visual analog scale
Baseline Demographics and Disease Characteristics
A total of 125 patients (mean age, 66.4 ± 8.5 years; 65.5% men) were recruited from France (n = 25), Germany (n = 25), Spain (n = 27), Sweden (n = 28), and the United Kingdom (n = 20). Baseline disease and demographic characteristics are shown in Table 1.
The majority of patients had comorbid conditions (77.6%; n = 97), most commonly cardiovascular disease (38.4%; n = 48), endocrine disorders (16.0%; n = 20), and rheumatic disease (15.2%; n = 19). Of the 104 patients (83.2%) who underwent Global
Discussion
It is established that exacerbations have a dramatic impact on disease progression, morbidity, mortality, and HRQL in patients with COPD.2 However, patients’ understanding and experience of exacerbations, and the impact of these events from their perspective, have until now remained largely unexplored. The results of this multinational, cross-sectional study of patient perceptions of their experience of COPD exacerbations reveal interesting findings that may be used to guide clinical practice
Acknowledgment
This study was devised by the authors and undertaken by Mapi Values, Lyon, France, with the support of AstraZeneca R&D, Lund, Sweden. Interpretation and evaluation of the results were by all of the authors, and Mark Richardson of Adelphi Communications Ltd, Macclesfield, UK, provided medical writing support.
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