Exacerbations and associated healthcare cost in patients with COPD in general practice

Submitted: February 10, 2016
Accepted: February 10, 2016
Published: February 11, 2016
Abstract Views: 908
PDF: 525
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Background. Acute exacerbations are a characteristic clinical expression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The objective of this study was to investigate the occurrence rate, management, and healthcare costs of exacerbations in patients with COPD in Dutch general practice. Methods. Baseline data set from the COPD on Primary Care Treatment (COOPT) trial was used. Details on the occurrence and management of exacerbations were collected by systematic medical record review for the 2-year period preceding trial inclusion. Results. The mean age of the 286 study subjects involved was 59.2 (SD 9.6) years, postbronchodilator FEV1 67.1% (SD 16.2) of predicted. Following ERS criteria, subjects suffered from: no (26%); mild (19%); moderate (40%); or severe (15%) airflow obstruction. The overall mean and median annual exacerbation rates were 0.88 (SD 0.79) and 0.5 (IQR 1.0), respectively. Exacerbation rate was not related to severity of airflow obstruction (p=0.628). Mean annual exacerbation costs per subject were € 40, € 53, € 61 and € 92 for the respective severity subgroups (p=0.012). The increase of costs in the more severe subgroups was mainly attributable to more physician consultations, diagnostic procedures, and prescription of reliever medication (e.g., bronchodilators, cough preparations). Conclusions. Occurrence of exacerbations did not depend on the severity of airflow obstruction, whereas the healthcare cost associated with exacerbations increased along with the severity of the disease.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

How to Cite

Schermer, T.R.J., C.G.J. Saris, W.J.H.M. Van den Bosch, N.H. Chavannes, C.P. Van Schayck, P.N.R. Dekhuijzen, and C. Van Weel. 2016. “Exacerbations and Associated Healthcare Cost in Patients With COPD in General Practice”. Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease 65 (3). https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2006.558.

Similar Articles

<< < 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.