title: COPD: the patient perspective.
abstract: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a highly prevalent disease characterized by nonreversible airway obstruction. Well-characterized symptoms such as exertional dyspnea and fatigue have a negative impact on patients' quality of life (QoL) and restrict physical activity in daily life. The impact of COPD symptoms on QoL is often underestimated; for example, 36% of patients who describe their symptoms as being mild-to-moderate also admit to being too breathless to leave the house. Additionally, early morning and nighttime symptoms are a particular problem. Methods are available to allow clinicians to accurately assess COPD symptoms, including patient questionnaires. Integrated approaches to COPD management, particularly pulmonary rehabilitation, are effective strategies for addressing symptoms, improving exercise capacity and, potentially, also increasing physical activity. Inhaled bronchodilators continue to be the mainstay of drug therapy in COPD, where options can be tailored to meet patients' needs with careful selection of the inhaled medication and the device used for its delivery. Overall, an integrated approach to disease management should be considered for improving QoL and subsequent patient outcomes in COPD.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Science, St George's, University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Paul W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Research Institute at Lung Clinic Grosshansdorf, Airway Research Center North (ARCN), Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Grosshansdorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watz
authors.affiliation: CIRO+, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Emiel F M
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Wouters
authors.affiliation: Unit of Respiratory Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Systemic Medicine, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata,' Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cazzola
mesh_terms: D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000187:drug effects; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D020127:Recovery of Function; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D001993:Bronchodilator Agents
keywords: COPD; patients; physical activity levels; pulmonary rehabilitation