The attribution of acute exacerbation in the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease / 中国医师进修杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the role of the pulmonary function, arterial blood gas analysis, the St George respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ) score and nutritional status in evaluating the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Method Changes of the above-mentioned parameters were analyzed in hospitalized patients suffered from moderate to severe COPD and compared with parameters of those who had acute exacerbations when admitted to hospital. Results The forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)% pred and oxygenation index of the patients declined significantly with the development of the disease after one, two, three, four times in hospital [(68.43 ± 3.09)%, (61.27 ± 3.38 )%, (42.05 ± 4.16)%, (33.64 ± 3.34)% and 435.55 ± 10.23, 404.35 ± 11.56, 358.38 ± 13.21, 321.29 ± 11.78] (P < 0.05), while the level of PaCO2 increased significantly in moderate COPD [(36.23 ± 3.62), (45.44 ± 4.67), (57.82 ± 4.12), (78.28 ± 5.21 )mm Hg (1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa) ] (P<0.05). The oxygenation index was declined significantly in severe COPD. The scores of SGRQ score declined significantly in all patients while the level of hemoglobin, albumin and body mass index did not change significantly. Conclusions Acute ex-acerbation attributes to the deterioration of pulmonary function and life quality of COPD patients. Monitoring the changes of pulmonary function, arterial blood gas analysis and SGRQ score may be useful in the evaluation of the development of COPD.