Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation frequency and severity

Abstract

Eirini Stafyla, Theodora Kerenidi, Konstantinos I Gourgoulianis Respiratory Medicine Department, University of Thessaly Medical School, University Hospital of Larissa, Larissa, GreeceWe read with great interest the original work by Motegi et al1 comparing three multidimensional assessment systems – BODE (body mass index, obstruction, dyspnea, and exercise capacity) index, DOSE (dyspnea, obstruction, smoking, exacerbations) index and ADO (age, dyspnea, obstruction) index – for predicting COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) exacerbations. In this study, exacerbation rates for the first and second year were 0.57 and 0.48 per patient-year respectively, while previous exacerbations, DOSE index, FEV1% (% forced expiratory volume in 1 second) predicted and long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) use were shown to be predictors of COPD exacerbations. However, this study seems to have quite different results from our own study that focused on exacerbation frequency and severity.View original paper by Motegi and colleagues.