title: Comorbidities and health status in individuals with and without COPD in five Latin American cities: the PLATINO study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Comorbidities are common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and have a significant impact on health status and prognosis. The PLATINO study provides data on self-reported comorbidities and perceived health status in COPD subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  PLATINO is a population-based study on COPD prevalence in five Latin American cities. COPD diagnosis was defined by GOLD criteria (FEV1/FVC<.70 post-bronchodilator). Information was collected on the following comorbidities: heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease, peptic ulcer and asthma. Health status was evaluated using the SF-12 questionnaire, derived from the question: «In general, would you say your health is excellent, very good, good, fair or poor?». A simple comorbidity score was calculated by adding the total number of comorbid conditions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of a total population of 5314individuals, 759 had COPD. Reported comorbidities by decreasing frequency were: any cardiovascular disease, hypertension, peptic ulcer, heart disease, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease, asthma and lung cancer. COPD patients had a higher comorbidity score and prevalence of lung cancer (P<.0001) and asthma (P<.0001), as well as a higher tendency to have hypertension (P=.0652) and cerebrovascular disease (P=.0750). Factors associated with comorbidities were age, body mass index (BMI) and female gender. The number of comorbidities increased as the health status deteriorated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the PLATINO population-based study, COPD individuals had an increased number of comorbidities. Age, female gender and higher BMI were the factors associated with comorbidity in these patients. Comorbid conditions were associated with impaired health status, independently of the COPD status.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neumología, Hospital Maciel, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay. Electronic address: mlopez@chasque.net.
authors.forename: Maria Victorina
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: López Varela
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montes de Oca
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Halbert
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muiño
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tálamo
authors.forename: Rogelio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pérez-Padilla
authors.forename: José Roberto B
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Jardim
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valdivia
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pertuzé
authors.forename: Ana María B
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Menezes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013147:Spirometry; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Comorbidities; Comorbilidades; Enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica; Epidemiology; Epidemiología; Estado general de salud; General health status