According to the fable “The Three Little Pigs,” the wolf came upon the homes of the pigs and said, “I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in.”* Recently, this fable has been referenced in commercials for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treatment as the sounds a patient with this condition may make while trying to breathe.
COPD is a group of diseases causing airflow blockage, along with breathing problems. Included in this disease group are emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and, in some cases, asthma. Tobacco use in the U.S. is the principal factor in the development and the progression of this disease.† Other factors do play a role as well, such as exposure to air pollutants in the workplace and home and respiratory infections. In developing parts of the world, indoor air quality is more of a factor in the development and progression of COPD than in the U.S.
A debilitating disease
In 2014, chronic lower respiratory disease, primarily COPD, was the third leading cause of death in the U.S.† While close to 16 million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD, the actual number may be higher, as more than half of adults with low pulmonary function were unaware that they had COPD. Individuals most likely to report a diagnosis of COPD are 65 years of age or older, women, unemployed, divorced, current or former smokers, and individuals with less than a high school diploma.
COPD affects more than just the lungs. Patients with COPD may have the following symptoms:
- Activity limitations
- Unable to work
- Require supplemental oxygen
- Experience increased confusion or memory loss
- Engage in more emergency room visits or overnight hospital stays
- Have other chronic diseases (arthritis, congestive heart failure, diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, or asthma), depression, or other mental or emotional conditions
To treat COPD for those patients who smoke, smoking cessation is the first step. Avoid tobacco smoke elsewhere and remove air pollutants from the patient’s home and workplace. Symptoms of COPD can be treated but require a careful and thorough evaluation by a physician and patient compliance.
An avoidable comorbidity
To examine the occurrence of COPD in the National Trauma Data Bank® (NTDB®) research admission year 2016, medical records were searched using the comorbid conditions DG-01 field value of 23 (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). A total of 59,086 records were found, 53,416 of which contained a discharge status, including 24,754 patients discharged to home, 9,017 to acute care/rehab, 15,928 to skilled nursing facilities, 977 to hospice, and 293 to a psychiatric facility; 2,447 died. Of these patients, 52 percent were women, on average 70 years old, had an average hospital length of stay of 6.2 days, an intensive care unit length of stay of 5.8 days, an average injury severity score of 9.2, and were on the ventilator for an average of 6.8 days (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Hospital Discharge status
