Effect of Fatigue on the Possibility of Acute Exacerbation in COPD: a Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common respiratory disease that is associated with high risk of disability and mortality. Although evidence suggests that fatigue may induce acute exacerbation in COPD, it needs to be further tested. Objective To explore the relationship between fatigue and the acute exacerbation in COPD. Methods By use of convenient sampling, a total of 597 COPD patients were selected from the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College and the Third People's Hospital of Bengbu to establish a cohort study population between March 2019 and October 2020. During the hospitalization, general information such as gender, age, educational level, marital status, living style, comorbidities, smoking history, and monthly family income were collected from patients. Fatigue Scale-14 was used to measure the fatigue status, BODE index was used to predict the severity and prognosis, Anxiety and depression were assessed by the Anxiety Scale (HADS-A) and the Depression Scale (HADS-D) in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) . The patients were followed up for 1 year after discharge, recorded the occurrence of acute exacerbation in COPD, and assessed the quality of life with COPD Assessment Test (CAT) . Univariate analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis were performed to identity factors possibly associated with the acute exacerbation in COPD. ROC curve analysis was used to measure the performance of fatigue in predicting acute exacerbation in COPD. Results The lost cases were screened and eliminated according to the corresponding inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria, five hundred and fifty cases were finally included for analysis, 416 of them had fatigue, and other 134 did not. Patients with and without fatigue had significant differences in smoking prevalence, mean number of acute exacerbations in a year, BODE index, HADS-A score, and CAT score (P<0.05) . Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that FS-14 score, BODE index and CAT score are risk factors for acute exacerbation in COPD (P<0.05) . ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve of fatigue in predicting the acute exacerbation in COPD was 0.826, with 85.2% sensitivity, 65.4% specificity, and 0.506 Youden's index. Conclusion Fatigue increases the risk of acute exacerbation in COPD to a certain extent. So clinical delivery of targeted preventive interventions may be beneficial to the reduction of acute exacerbation in COPD.

Keywords

• pulmonary disease, chronic obstructive|fatigue|prospective studies|cohort studies|root cause analysis|acute exacerbation