title: Advances in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among older adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This review summarizes recent research on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among older adults.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Recent research on COPD and older adults addresses four key areas: diagnosis and screening, comorbidities, end-of-life care, and management. These key findings include the Rotterdam study's identification of the incidence rate of COPD in older adults being 9.2 per 1000 person-years; a new assessment of FEV1 cut-points associated with increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms and risk of death; development and validation of new mortality scales, the ADO (age, dyspnea, and airflow obstruction) index and the PILE score; older adults with COPD average 9 comorbidities, of which depression, cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, and chronic renal failure are highly prevalent; nonrespiratory treatments such as proton pump inhibitors, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and statins show promise in the management of COPD; and strength may be a protective factor for older adults with COPD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest that more research on older adults and COPD suggest that aging is a determinant of the progression of disease and that management of this population requires different metrics and strategies.
authors.affiliation: Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Kannapolis, NC, USA. cblanchette@lrri.org
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Blanchette
authors.forename: Susan R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: Sandi J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lane
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D015994:Incidence; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008403:Mass Screening; D015995:Prevalence; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D012008:Recurrence; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D013147:Spirometry; D013727:Terminal Care; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed