International Journal of COPD (Feb 2017)

Natural course of early COPD

  • Rhee CK,
  • Kim K,
  • Yoon HK,
  • Kim JA,
  • Kim SH,
  • Lee SH,
  • Park YB,
  • Jung KS,
  • Yoo KH,
  • Hwang YI

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 12
pp. 663 – 668

Abstract

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Chin Kook Rhee,1 Kyungjoo Kim,1 Hyoung Kyu Yoon,2 Jee-Ae Kim,3 Sang Hyun Kim,4 Sang Haak Lee,5 Yong Bum Park,6 Ki-Suck Jung,7 Kwang Ha Yoo,8 Yong Il Hwang7 1Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St Mary’s Hospital, 2Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yeouido St Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, 3Pharmaceutical Policy Evaluation Research Team, Research Institution, 4Big Data Division, Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, Wonju, 5Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, St Paul’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 6Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul, 7Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, 8Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea Background and objective: Few studies have examined the natural course of early COPD. The aim of this study was to observe the natural course of early COPD patients. We also aimed to analyze medical utilization and costs for early COPD during a 6-year period. Methods: Patients with early COPD were selected from Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data. We linked the KNHANES data of patients with early COPD to National Health Insurance data. Results: A total of 2,397 patients were enrolled between 2007 and 2012. The mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) was 78.6%, and the EuroQol five dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D) index value was 0.9. In total, 110 patients utilized health care for COPD in 2007, and this number increased to 179 in 2012. The total mean number of days used per person increased from 4.9 in 2007 to 7.8 in 2012. The total medical cost per person also increased from 248.8 US dollar (USD) in 2007 to 780.6 USD in 2013. A multiple linear regression revealed that age, lower body mass index, lower FEV1 (%), and lower EQ-5D score were significantly associated with medical costs. Conclusion: Even in early COPD patients, some of them eventually progressed and utilized health care for COPD. Keywords: early COPD, KNHANES, NHI, HIRA, utilization, cost

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