Comorbidities in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by persistent airflow limitation and respiratory symptoms. Several diseases co-exist with COPD. Tobacco smoking is an important risk factor for comorbidities. Comorbidities potentiate the morbidity and the mortality of COPD. Aim of the work The aim of this study was to study the different comorbidities in COPD patients and assess their impact on COPD patients. Patients and methods This is an observational cohort study carried out at El-Mahalla El-Kobra Chest Hospital on 188 COPD patients between June 2018 and June 2019. All patients underwent spirometry, categorized into spirometric severity grades and ABCD GOLD groups according to GOLD 2019. Demographics data, smoking index, BMI, comorbidities, and the presence of dyspnea were collected. The Charlson Comorbidity Index was calculated. Results One hundred eighty-eight patients were analyzed. 69.68% of the participants were men; the mean age was 57.5 years. More than 70% of the patients had severe and very severe COPD. More than 70% of the patients were GOLD C and GOLD D. More than 95% of the studied patients had different comorbidities and the most frequent comorbidities were hypertension (54.78%), diabetes mellitus (36.70%), anemia (28.72%), gastroesophageal reflux disease (17.02%), ischemic heart disease (11.17%), and arrhythmia (10.36%). There was a significant difference among the ABCD GOLD groups in age, smoking index, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and the prevalence of anemia and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Conclusions COPD patients had different comorbidities, which have a negative impact on the severity of the disease.