Role of Comorbidities in Treatment and Outcomes after Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbations

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Abstract

Rationale: Hospital readmissions are an important cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although comorbidities are associated with outcomes in COPD, it is unknown how they affect treatment choices. Objectives: We sought to examine whether comorbidity was associated with readmission, mortality, and delivery of in-hospital treatment for COPD exacerbations. Methods: We performed a cohort study of veterans hospitalized with a COPD exacerbation to six Veterans Affairs hospitals between 2005 and 2011. We collected comorbidities in the year before hospitalization. We defined our primary outcome as readmission and/or mortality within 30 days of discharge, and treatment quality as receipt of systemic corticosteroids and respiratory antibiotics during the index hospitalization. Results: A total of 2,391 patients were included. Each one-point increase in Charlson index was associated with greater odds of readmission or death (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.24; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18–1.30) and reduced odds of receiving treatment with steroids and antibiotics (aOR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.85–0.95), in adjusted analyses. Patients with comorbid congestive heart failure (aOR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.52–0.79), coronary artery disease (aOR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.60–0.89), and chronic kidney disease (aOR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.55–0.99) were less likely to receive corticosteroids and antibiotic treatment than patients without those comorbidities. We did not identify any comorbidity that was associated with increased odds of receiving appropriate therapies. Conclusions: Comorbidity was associated with 30-day readmission and mortality, and with delivery of fewer treatments known to be beneficial among patients with COPD exacerbation.

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Diagnosis and management of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a clinical practice guideline update from the American College of Physicians, American College of Chest Physicians, American Thoracic Society, and European Respiratory Society.

Amir Qaseem, Timothy Wilt, Steven E Weinberger … (2011)

This guideline is an official statement of the American College of Physicians (ACP), American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), American Thoracic Society (ATS), and European Respiratory Society (ERS). It represents an update of the 2007 ACP clinical practice guideline on diagnosis and management of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is intended for clinicians who manage patients with COPD. This guideline addresses the value of history and physical examination for predicting airflow obstruction; the value of spirometry for screening or diagnosis of COPD; and COPD management strategies, specifically evaluation of various inhaled therapies (anticholinergics, long-acting β-agonists, and corticosteroids), pulmonary rehabilitation programs, and supplemental oxygen therapy. This guideline is based on a targeted literature update from March 2007 to December 2009 to evaluate the evidence and update the 2007 ACP clinical practice guideline on diagnosis and management of stable COPD. RECOMMENDATION 1: ACP, ACCP, ATS, and ERS recommend that spirometry should be obtained to diagnose airflow obstruction in patients with respiratory symptoms (Grade: strong recommendation, moderate-quality evidence). Spirometry should not be used to screen for airflow obstruction in individuals without respiratory symptoms (Grade: strong recommendation, moderate-quality evidence). RECOMMENDATION 2: For stable COPD patients with respiratory symptoms and FEV(1) between 60% and 80% predicted, ACP, ACCP, ATS, and ERS suggest that treatment with inhaled bronchodilators may be used (Grade: weak recommendation, low-quality evidence). RECOMMENDATION 3: For stable COPD patients with respiratory symptoms and FEV(1) 50% predicted. (Grade: weak recommendation, moderate-quality evidence). RECOMMENDATION 7: ACP, ACCP, ATS, and ERS recommend that clinicians should prescribe continuous oxygen therapy in patients with COPD who have severe resting hypoxemia (Pao(2) ≤55 mm Hg or Spo(2) ≤88%) (Grade: strong recommendation, moderate-quality evidence).

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Systematic review of comorbidity indices for administrative data.

Paul Aylin, Mansour Sharabiani, Alex Bottle (2012)

Adjustment for comorbidities is common in performance benchmarking and risk prediction. Despite the exponential upsurge in the number of articles citing or comparing Charlson, Elixhauser, and their variants, no systematic review has been conducted on studies comparing comorbidity measures in use with administrative data. We present a systematic review of these multiple comparison studies and introduce a new meta-analytical approach to identify the best performing comorbidity measures/indices for short-term (inpatient + ≤ 30 d) and long-term (outpatient+>30 d) mortality. Articles up to March 18, 2011 were searched based on our predefined terms. The bibliography of the chosen articles and the relevant reviews were also searched and reviewed. Multiple comparisons between comorbidity measures/indices were split into all possible pairs. We used the hypergeometric test and confidence intervals for proportions to identify the comparators with significantly superior/inferior performance for short-term and long-term mortality. In addition, useful information such as the influence of lookback periods was extracted and reported. Out of 1312 retrieved articles, 54 articles were eligible. The Deyo variant of Charlson was the most commonly referred comparator followed by the Elixhauser measure. Compared with baseline variables such as age and sex, comorbidity adjustment methods seem to better predict long-term than short-term mortality and Elixhauser seems to be the best predictor for this outcome. For short-term mortality, however, recalibration giving empirical weights seems more important than the choice of comorbidity measure. The performance of a given comorbidity measure depends on the patient group and outcome. In general, the Elixhauser index seems the best so far, particularly for mortality beyond 30 days, although several newer, more inclusive measures are promising.