title: Patients admitted to the ICU for acute exacerbation of COPD: two-year mortality and functional status.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess ICU patients with COPD, in terms of in-hospital characteristics, two-year mortality and two-year functional status of survivors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective cohort study involving patients with acute exacerbation of COPD admitted to the ICUs of two hospitals in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, between July of 2005 and July of 2006. At two years after discharge, survivors were interviewed by telephone in order to determine Karnofsky scores and scores on a scale regarding activities of daily living (ADL).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sample comprised 231 patients. In-hospital mortality was 37.7%, and two-year post-discharge mortality was 30.3%. Of the 74 survivors, 66 were interviewed (89%). The mean age at ICU admission was 74 ± 10 years, and the mean Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score was 18 ± 7. Two or more comorbidities were present in 87.8% of the patients. Of the 66 interviewees, 57 (86.3%) lived at home, 58 (87.8%) were self-sufficient, 12 (18.1%) required oxygen therapy, and 4 (6.1%) still required ventilatory support. There was a significant reduction in the quality of life and autonomy of the survivors, as evidenced by the Karnofsky scores (85 ± 9 vs. 79 ± 11, p = 0.03) and ADL scale scores (29 ± 5 vs. 25 ± 7; p = 0.01), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this patient sample, two-year mortality was quite high. Although there was a noticeable reduction in the functional status of the survivors, they remained self-sufficient.
authors.affiliation: Moinhos de Vento Hospital and the Santa Casa Hospital Complex in Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil. cassiano.rush@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Cassiano
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Cláudia da Rocha
authors.initials: Cda R
authors.lastname: Cabral
authors.forename: Jaqueline Sangiogo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hass
authors.forename: Roselaine Pinheiro de
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Mara Ambrosina de Oliveira
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.forename: Ana Paula da Rocha
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: Alessandra Hofstadler Deiques
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Fleig
authors.forename: Erika Cristine
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Treptow
authors.forename: Márcia Inês Boff
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Rizzotto
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D017567:Karnofsky Performance Status; D008297:Male; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D013997:Time Factors