Prevalence, risk assessment, and predictors of osteoporosis among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

The link between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and osteoporosis is unclear and yet to be understood. The study goals were to detect the prevalence of osteoporosis and investigate its predictors among COPD patients. This is a longitudinal study conducted in a tertiary care setting. During the study, patients' bone mineral density was checked, pulmonary parameters were recorded, and a risk assessment tool was validated. Based on T-score, more than 50% of subjects were osteoporotic. Spirometric parameters were significantly lower among osteoporotic patients. For the risk assessment tool, a cutoff point of 34 made the optimum balance between sensitivity and specificity (0.867 and 0.087, respectively) with a generated area under the curve of 0.934. Severe COPD patients were four times at higher risk of getting osteoporosis, forced expiratory volume (FEV) % predicted, and FEV/forced vital capacity was inversely related to the risk of osteoporosis. Patients with severe dyspnea had twice the risk of getting osteoporosis. Osteoporosis was prevalent among COPD patients, and severe COPD patients were at higher risk of getting osteoporosis.

Determining the risk factors associated with delayed sputum conversion at the end of the intensive phase among tuberculosis patients.

BACKGROUND: In pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), the sputum conversion rate at 2 months is frequently used to evaluate treatment outcomes and effectiveness of a TB control programme. AIMS: The study aimed to estimate the rate of delayed sputum conversion and explore its predicting factors at the end of the intensive phase among smear-positive PTB (PTB +ve) patients. METHODS: A 3-year retrospective study was conducted in the government hospital in Pulau Pinang from 2016 to 2018. During the study, a standardized, data collection form was used to collect data from the patient record. Patients aged over 18 years were recruited. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify significant independent variables associated with delayed sputum conversion. RESULTS: A total 1128 of PTB patients were recorded visiting the TB clinic, 736 (65.2%) were diagnosed as PTB +ve; of these, 606 (82.3%) PTB +ve had a record of sputum conversion at the end of the intensive phase. Age ≥ 50 years, blue-collar jobs, smoking, heavy bacillary load, relapsed and treatment interrupted were significantly (P < 0.05) associated with delayed sputum conversion. Delayed sputum conversion rate at the end of the intensive phase was 30.5%. CONCLUSION: The rate of sputum smear conversion in the intensive phase of treatment was independently associated with high sputum smear grading at diagnosis, relapsed and treatment interrupted categories, old age and blue-collar occupations.

Economic Burden of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients in Malaysia: A Longitudinal Study.

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) requires long-term pharmacological and non-pharmacological management that encompasses continuous economic burden on patients and society, and also results in productivity losses due to compromised quality of life. Among working-age patients, COPD is the 11th leading cause of work productivity loss. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the economic burden of COPD in Malaysia, including direct costs for the management of COPD and indirect costs due to productivity losses for COPD patients. METHODOLOGY: Overall, 150 patients with an established diagnosis of COPD were followed-up for a period of 1 year from August 2018 to August 2019. An activity-based costing, 'bottom-up' approach was used to calculate direct costs, while indirect costs of patients were assessed using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean annual per-patient direct cost for the management of COPD was calculated as US$506.92. The mean annual costs per patient in the management phase, emergency department visits, and hospital admissions were reported as US$395.65, US$86.4, and US$297.79, respectively; 31.66% of COPD patients visited the emergency department and 42.47% of COPD patients were admitted to the hospital due to exacerbation. The annual mean indirect cost per patient was calculated as US$1699.76. Productivity losses at the workplace were reported as 31.87% and activity limitations were reported as 17.42%. CONCLUSION: Drugs and consumables costs were the main cost-driving factors in the management of COPD. The higher ratio of indirect cost to direct medical costs shows that therapeutic interventions aimed to prevent work productivity losses may reduce the economic burden of COPD.

The Association between Chronic Heroin Smoking and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the correlation between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heroin smoking. Heroin smoking is a recent underinvestigated problem. The goal of this study is to study the impact of heroin smoking among COPD patients. METHODS: This is a descriptive clinical study. A combination of self-reporting questionnaires and data extraction tools were used to collect information during baseline tests, interviews, and follow-ups. Patients' medical, clinical, and socioeconomic history were recorded. Participants were recruited using random sampling from multiple centers. RESULTS: Out of 1034 COPD patients, heroin smokers represented the vast majority of addiction cases (n = 133). Heroin smokers were leaner than non-addicts (19.78 ± 4.07 and 24.01 ± 5.6, respectively). The most common type of comorbidities among heroin smokers was emphysema (27%). Both the forced expiratory volume (FEV1)/forced vital capacity ratio and FEV1% predicted were lower among heroin smokers than non-addicts (52.79 ± 12.71 and 48.54 ± 14.38, respectively). The majority of heroin smokers (55%) had advanced COPD, and at least 15% of heroin smokers suffered from frequent respiratory failure. The mean ± SD for COPD onset age among heroin smokers was 44.23 ± 5.72, and it showed a statistically significant correlation (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Heroin smoking might be linked to the onset of COPD. Heroin smokers showed a significantrespiratory impairment compared to tobacco smokers of the same age group.

Validation and clinical interpretation of the St George's respiratory questionnaire for COPD (SGRQ-C) after adaptation to Malaysian language and culture, in patients with COPD.

BACKGROUND: Cultural differences affect the administration and results of health status questionnaires. "Cross cultural adaptation" ensures retention of psychometric properties such as validity and reliability at an item and/or scale level. OBJECTIVE: To develop a Malaysian version of St George's respiratory COPD specific questionnaire (SGRQ-CM), to evaluate the full spectrum of psychometric properties (reliability, validity and responsiveness), to test the factor structure and to assess minimum clinically important difference for the SGRQ-CM, to be used in population of Malaysia. METHODOLOGY: SGRQ-C was translated to Bahasa Malaysia using a standard protocol. 240 COPD patients were included in the study. All patients were followed-up for six months. Construct validity, internal consistency, item convergent validity, test-retest ability, responsiveness, factor analysis and MCID of the Malaysian version of SGRQ-C to be used in population of Malaysia were evaluated. RESULTS: The Cronbach alpha coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for SGRQ-CM were reported as 0.87, and 0.88 respectively. Correlation of SGRQ-CM with CAT, EQ-5D-5 L, mMRC dyspnea scales and FEV1%predicted were reported as 0.86, - 0.82, 0.72 and - 0.42 respectively. Correlation coefficient between the subscales and other clinical and health status measures ranged from r = - 0.35 to r = - 0.87. The MCID was reported as 5.07 (- 2.54-12.67). CONCLUSION: The Malaysian version of SGRQ-C has a good psychometric property comparable to those of the original version and has a strong evidence of validity, reliability and responsiveness towards disease severity in Malaysian COPD patients. It can be recommended as a reliable quality of life measure for future research.