title: Gender and COPD in patients attending a pulmonary clinic.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare gender differences in the clinical expression of COPD patients attending a pulmonary clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared 53 FEV1-matched men and women with COPD attending a pulmonary clinic. We studied age, smoking pack-years history, Pa(O2), Pa(CO2), functional residual capacity, body mass index (BMI), dyspnea, 6-min walk distance (6MWD), health-related quality of life, presence of comorbidities, and exacerbations in the previous year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women were younger (57 years vs 65 years, p < 0.05), smoked less (48 pack-years vs 69 pack-years, p < 0.05), had better Pa(O2) (74 mm Hg vs 67 mm Hg, p < 0.05), lower Pa(CO2) (40 mm Hg vs 45 mm Hg, p < 0.05), lower BMI (25 vs 28, p < 0.05), more exacerbations in the last year (1 vs 0, p < 0.05), and fewer comorbidities (Charlson score 2 vs score 4, p < 0.05) than men. Even though women had the same FEV1, better oxygenation, better Pa(CO2), and fewer comorbidities, they performed poorer in walking distance (6MWD percentage of predicted, 87% vs 105%; p = 0.05), had worse quality-of-life scores (Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire [SGRQ] symptoms score, 51 vs 41, p < 0.05; SGRQ activity score, 58 vs 47, p < 0.05), and had a higher degree of dyspnea (Modified Medical Research Council scale > 2, 28% vs 6%, p = 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a population of patients with COPD attending a pulmonary clinic, there are gender-related differences in the clinical expression of COPD that need further attention.
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Research Unit, Hospital Nuestra Sra de Candelaria, Tenerife, Spain. jupa65@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Juan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: de Torres
authors.forename: Ciro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Casanova
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abreu
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aguirre-Jaime
authors.forename: Bartolome R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Celli
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking