A changing landscape: diagnosis and management of COPD

Global prevalence of malnutrition in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Systemic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Malnutrition is a significant comorbidity among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but it has been often ignored. To date, the prevalence of malnutrition and its association with clinical parameters in the patients with COPD have not been well described. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition and the prevalence of at-risk for malnutrition among COPD and the clinical impact of malnutrition on patients with COPD in a systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHODS

PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched for articles describing the prevalence of malnutrition and/or at-risk for malnutrition from January 2010 to December 2021. Eligibility screening, data extraction, and quality assessment of the retrieved articles were conducted independently by two reviewers. Meta-analyses were performed to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and at-risk for malnutrition and the clinical impact of malnutrition on patients with COPD. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses were performed to explore the sources of heterogeneity. Comparisons were made between individuals with and without malnutrition according to pulmonary function, degree of dyspnea, exercise capacity, and mortality risk.

RESULTS

Out of the 4156 references identified, 101 were read full-text, of which 36 studies were included. The total number of involved patients included in this meta-analysis was 5289. The prevalence of malnutrition was 30.0% (95% CI 20.3 to 40.6), compared with an at-risk prevalence of 50.0% (95% CI 40.8 to 59.2). Both prevalences were associated with regions and measurement tools. The prevalence of malnutrition was associated with COPD phase (acute exacerbations and stable). COPD with malnutrition showed lower forced expiratory volume 1 s % predicted (mean difference (MD) -7.19, 95% CI -11.86 to -2.52), higher modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scores (MD 0.38, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.64), poorer exercise tolerance (standardized mean difference -0.29, 95% CI -0.54 to -0.05), and higher mortality risk (hazard ratio 2.24, 95% CI 1.23 to 4.06) compared to COPD without malnutrition.

CONCLUSION

Malnutrition and at-risk for malnutrition are common among COPD. Malnutrition negatively impacts important clinical outcomes of COPD.

Providing dignified continence care to older people at end of life

The prevalence of urinary incontinence increases as a person ages, as age-related changes make it more difficult to maintain continence. Long-term conditions and treatments prescribed to treat conditions, such as heart failure, can lead to an urgency to void the bladder. Frailty can make it difficult for an older person to respond this need. At end of life, mobility is often compromised and people can experience extreme fatigue. Caregivers can obtain support to manage an individual's incontinence during the day but often struggle alone at night. Caregivers can become exhausted and a situation can reach breaking point. Working with the older person and caregivers to determine the goals of care and how to meet them can make a huge difference. It can take the pressure off the entire family, meet a person's needs and enable the person to stay at home. This article aims to enable nurses to understand the problems older people may experience and how to work with the older person and caregivers to develop solutions that maintain dignity and enhance quality of life.

Striving for Confidence and Satisfaction in Everyday Life with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Rationale and Content of the Tele-Rehabilitation Programme >C☺PD-Life>>

Background: More feasible rehabilitation programmes for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are warranted. Even so, still in its infancy, telerehabilitation to COPD patients reveals promising results, wherefore it is anticipated to contribute significant value to the current challenges of rehabilitation to these patients. To expand useful knowledge in the field, more sophisticated telerehabilitation interventions must be developed and appraised, but first and foremost, thoroughly described. Aims and methods: The aim of this article is to give a detailed description of the rationale and content of the >C☺PD-Life>> programme, within the bounds of the checklist of Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR). Approach:>C☺PD-Life>> is a telerehabilitation programme for COPD patients delivered as a study intervention by an interprofessional team of clinicians collaborating from both the hospital and the municipal healthcare system. Making use of two-way audio and visual communication software, 15 patients participated in the intervention via a tablet computer from their private setting. The programme was a six-month-long empowerment-based rehabilitation that aimed to support COPD patients in leading a satisfactory and confident life with appropriate physical activity and high disease management. Conclusions: A long-term interprofessional cross-sectoral telerehabilitation programme has been justified and described. The intervention was tested in 2017–2018 and the qualitative appraisal, along with an analysis of case-based measurements of development in physical capacity, COPD Assesment Test, and health management, is currently under production.

Sociodemographic and clinical factors affecting the quality of life of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background

COPD remains a significant challenge for contemporary medicine. It is one of the most common respiratory illnesses and leads to disability as well as deteriorating patient’s quality of life (QOL).

Objective

The objective of this study was to determine the impact of selected sociodemographic and clinical factors on QOL and level of illness acceptance (LIA) of patients with COPD.

Design

This study was a cross-sectional, prospective, observational study.

Patients and methods

The study involved 100 patients (34 women and 66 men) suffering from COPD for at least half a year, treated in the Allergology Clinic at the Department of Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Allergy, Wroclaw Medical University in Poland. Standardized questionnaires such as Short Form-36 Health Survey, Saint George’s Respiratory Questionnaire, Acceptance of Illness Scale, and COPD Author’s Questionnaire were used to assess QOL and LIA.

Results

Among the most significant results, there were no statistically significant differences between the patients’ sex and their QOL and LIA (P>0.05). It has been observed that with an increase in the age of patients, a statistically significant decrease in LIA is observed, especially after 60 years of age (P=0.001). It was found that the higher level of education of the patients was statistically significant in the higher QOL (P<0.05) and in the greater LIA (P<0.05). Interestingly, there was no statistically significant effect of active smoking and overweight on QOL and LIA (P>0.05).

Conclusion

Sex of COPD patients does not affect their QOL or LIA, nonetheless, the age decreases the level of QOL and LIA. Higher education improves QOL scores; however, factors such as dyspnea, longer duration of illness, comorbidities, oxygen therapy undertaking, and family burden of respiratory disease affect deterioration of QOL.

Irish Respiratory Clinical Nurse Specialists' Experiences of Their Role: A Qualitative Exploration

AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to explore respiratory clinical nurse specialists' (CNSs') experiences of their role.

BACKGROUND

Respiratory illnesses are currently 1 of the top 3 causes of mortality resulting in 1 in 5 deaths and are associated with significant human burden. Respiratory CNSs play a vital role in the management of respiratory disease through supporting improvements in quality of life, reduction of exacerbations, and subsequent hospital admission. While published literature exists regarding the CNS role, there is a dearth of published literature on the respiratory CNS role.

DESIGN

A qualitative descriptive design allowed the researcher to elicit respiratory CNSs' experiences of their role.

METHODS

Ethical approval was obtained, CNSs were purposively sampled (n = 10), and data were collected by semistructured interviews, transcribed, and analyzed using content thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Three themes were identified within the findings: "multidimensional role," "interacting and collaborating," and "advancing the role."

CONCLUSIONS

Overall the study highlights that respiratory CNSs are active in the role as clinical experts, advocators, educators, collaborators, consultants, and health promoters. These findings recognize the importance of evaluating and building on the current CNS workforce in respiratory care and evaluating future development of the CNS role in specialized aspects of respiratory care in line with population and service needs.

COPD exacerbations by disease severity in England

OBJECTIVES

Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with accelerated disease progression and are important drivers of health care resource utilization. The study aimed to quantify the rates of COPD exacerbations in England and assess health care resource utilization by severity categories according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 2013.

METHODS

Data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked to Hospital Episode Statistics were used to identify patients with a COPD diagnosis aged ≥40 years. Those with complete spirometric, modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale information, and exacerbation history 12 months prior to January 1, 2011 (index date) were classified into GOLD severity groups. Study outcomes over follow-up (up to December 31, 2013) were exacerbation rates and resource utilization (general practitioner visits, hospital admissions).

RESULTS

From the 44,201 patients in the study cohort, 83.5% were classified into severity levels GOLD A: 33.8%, GOLD B: 21.0%, GOLD C: 18.1%, and GOLD D: 27.0%. Mean age at diagnosis was 66 years and 52.0% were male. Annual exacerbation rates per person-year increased with severity, from 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.81-0.85) for GOLD A to 2.51 (95% CI: 2.47-2.55) for GOLD D. General practitioner visit rates per person-year also increased with severity, from 4.82 (95% CI: 4.74-4.93) for GOLD A to 7.44 (95% CI: 7.31-7.61) for GOLD D. COPD-related hospitalization rates per person-year increased from less symptoms (GOLD A: 0.28, GOLD C: 0.39) to more symptoms (GOLD B: 0.52, GOLD D: 0.84).

CONCLUSION

Patients in the most severe category (GOLD D) experienced nearly three times the number of exacerbations and COPD-related hospitalizations as those in the least severe category (GOLD A), in addition to increased general practitioner visits. Better patient management to stabilize the disease progression could allow for an improvement in exacerbation frequency and a reduction in health care resource utilization.