Highlights
- •AECOPDs accounts for 0.5% of ED visits in Italy.
- •Patients attending the ED for an AECOPD are old and frequently affected by several comorbidities.
- •The majority of patients are admitted, and costs are high.
Abstract
Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPDs) frequently
cause patients with COPD to access the emergency department and have a negative impact
on the course of the disease. The objectives of our study were: 1) describing the
socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, and the clinical management, of patients
with AECOPD, when they present to the emergency department; and 2) estimating the
costs related to the management of these patients. We conducted a retrospective cohort
study in Italy, collecting data on 4396 patients, from 34 centres. Patients had a
mean (SD) age of 76,6 (10.6) years, and 61.2% of them where males. >70% of the patients
had a moderate to very high comorbidity burden, and heart failure was present in 26.4%
of the cohort. The 64.6% of patients were admitted to hospital wards, with a mean
(SD) length of stay of 10.8 (9.8) days. The estimated cost per patient was 2617 €.
Conclusions: Patients attending the ED for an AECOPD are old and present important
comorbidities. The rate of admission is high, and costs are remarkable.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 22, 2018
Accepted:
January 4,
2018
Received in revised form:
December 31,
2017
Received:
October 24,
2017
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
