Body weight and comorbidity predict mortality in COPD patients treated with oxygen therapy.
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between clinical variables and all-cause and respiratory mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) undergoing long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT). The authors retrospectively studied a historic cohort of 128 patients with COPD (126 males, mean age+/-SD 68.9+/-9.7 yrs, body mass index (BMI) 25.1+/-4.5 kg.m-2, and forced expiratory volume in one second 25.4+/-8.8% predicted), who were being treated with long-term oxygen therapy in a tertiary teaching hospital between 1992 and 1999. Comorbidity, assessed with the Charlson Index, was present in 38% of the patients. Vital status and cause of death were assessed through the population death registry. A total of 78 patients (61%) had died by the end of follow-up. Three-year survival was 55%. Death was due to respiratory causes in 77% of cases. On Cox analysis, BMI<25 kg.m-2, comorbid conditions, age>or=70 yrs and cor pulmonale were associated with all-cause mortality. The BMI and comorbidity were the only significant predictive factors when the analysis was restricted to respiratory mortality. In conclusion, body mass index<25 kg.m-2 and comorbidity were predictors of all-cause and respiratory mortality in a cohort of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients treated with long-term oxygen therapy. These factors should be taken into account when considering the management and prognosis of these patients.
Marti
S
S
Servei de Pneumologia, Hospital General Vall d'Hebron, and Laobratori de Bioestadística i Epidemiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Muñoz
X
X
Rios
J
J
Morell
F
F
Ferrer
J
J
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors