Chest
Original ResearchCOPDInfluence of Season on Exacerbation Characteristics in Patients With COPD
Section snippets
Patients
This study involved 307 patients with COPD enrolled in the London COPD cohort and included their contributing data from at least 1 year between November 1, 1995, and November 1, 2009. The patients and exacerbations have been the subject of previous publications, but the current analysis and its interpretation are, to our knowledge, completely novel. COPD was defined as an FEV1 < 80%, predicted from age, height, and sex, and FEV1/FVC < 70%. Patients with significant respiratory disease other
Results
Table 1 shows the patient characteristics of the 307 patients with COPD. There were 100 (32.9%) active smokers at recruitment; 303 had a history of smoking, with a mean consumption of 50.5 pack years (SD, 35.9). Also, 262 patients (86.5%) were taking a median dose of 1,000 μg of beclomethasone equivalents (IQR, 500-1,000) of inhaled steroids; 41 patients (13.3%) were not taking inhaled steroids, and the dosage was unknown for four patients. The patients recorded diary card data for 1,037
Discussion
This study has shown that COPD exacerbations in colder periods of the year take longer to recover from and are more likely to involve cough or coryzal symptoms. We have also shown that exacerbations in the cold seasons have a greater impact on daily activity, with patients spending more time indoors and being more likely to be hospitalized. A possible explanation for our findings could be that a greater proportion of exacerbations that require treatment in cold conditions are associated with
Acknowledgments
Author contributions: Dr Donaldson: had the original idea for the study, did the statistical analysis, was involved in drafting and editing the manuscript prior to submission, and has seen and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Dr Goldring: had the original idea for the study, was involved in drafting and editing the manuscript prior to submission, and has seen and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Dr Wedzicha: had the original idea for the study, was involved in drafting
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Funding/Support: The London COPD cohort is funded by the Medical Research Council, United Kingdom [Grant MRC G0800570].
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