One in 5 of our Community knows that they have COPD and another one in 5 has the disease but has yet to be diagnosed. So while this may seem a bit off topic for a whopping 40% of us it is not!
What are the survival rates for patients with COPD?
The most common question patients ask after being diagnosed with a disease
is an easy one to guess: how long do I have to live? Although some
diseases have very predictable courses, COPD is not one of them.
Unfortunately, there are many things that weigh into a determination of how
long patients live, that even clinical experts have difficulty predicting
survival in COPD patients. This article will discuss five basic questions
that may help when trying to determine life expectancy, although it is
important to keep in mind that every patient is an individual and there is
no hard-and-fast rule for how long a patient with COPD might live.
The factors that need to be accounted for include:
. Are you still smoking? Patients who continue to smoke despite a diagnosis
of COPD have a worse prognosis (1). A large research study that monitored
patients and their outcomes over 15 years, called the Lung Health Study,
established that quitting smoking lowered the rate with which lung function
declined. This means that for patients who continue to smoke will likely
have shorter lifespans than those who quit smoking.
. How severe is your COPD? The severity of COPD is determined by pulmonary
function tests, (aka spirometry). A common classification system is the
GOLD (Global Obstructive Lung Disease) Criteria. The GOLD guidelines
classify COPD severity into four stages (mild, moderate, severe, very
severe). The higher the stage, the worse the long term outcome. One study
found that 24% of patients with very severe COPD died within three years of
the study. 15% of the patients with severe COPD and 11% of the patients
with moderate COPD died within three years of that study (2). The trends in
lung function also signal patients who have poorer prognoses. Many
clinicians monitor lung function number called "FEV-1" that is obtained
during spirometry or pulmonary function testing. If this number starts
steadily declining, this may be a sign that a patient is doing poorly.
. Are you able to exercise? Patients who survive the longest with COPD are
ones who are able to exert themselves (called 'exercise capacity') without
profound shortness of breath. The better one's exercise capacity is, the
longer patients tend to live with COPD. Clinicians use various symptom
severity scores to assess and track patient symptoms over time. The BODE
index is one such score. The BODE index is scored on a 10-point scale and
takes into account lung function (the FEV-1), the results of a 6-minute walk
test, body mass index (BMI) and the feelings of shortness of breath. Higher
scores on the BODE index places patients at higher risk of death.
How many exacerbations and/or hospitalizations due to COPD do you have per year? Patients whose COPD does not flare up in the form of exacerbations and those who do not frequently require hospitalization tend to live longer than patients who have recurrent exacerbations or hospitalizations. In general, the number of exacerbations/hospitalizations are related to the severity of COPD, but not always. Patients who have mild COPD but are frequently hospitalized may have similar prognoses to those with very severe COPD. Patients who are hospitalized more than 2-3 times per year confer a larger risk of death than those who are hospitalized less often..
What other medical problems do you have? Many patients with COPD also have
other medical problems. Patients with COPD may have lung cancer,
obstructive sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease, obesity, osteoporosis and
others. These conditions may occur in patient with any level of COPD
severity. Treating and/or controlling these other conditions is important
to improve survival and decrease hospitalizations.
The Bottom Line:
.Survival of patients with COPD is very variable. It is almost impossible
to predict how long a patient will live with COPD.
.Factors that worsen the prognosis of COPD include:
severity of disease,
decrease in exercise capacity,
number of exacerbations and/or hospitalizations,
other medical problems
and smoking status.
.Patients with COPD who quit smoking live longer than patients with COPD who continue to smoke.
http://copd.about.com/od/copdlifeexpectancy/fl/What-are-the-survival-rates-for-patients-with-COPD.ht...
