Comparison of in-hospital mortality in patients with COPD, asthma and asthma-COPD overlap exacerbations

Obstructive airway diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), have airflow limitation associated with chronic inflammation. Using a national inpatient database in Japan, we aimed to evaluate factors affecting in-hospital mortality in patients with asthma, COPD or asthma-COPD overlap (ACO).

We retrospectively collected data for inpatients (age >40 years) with exacerbation of COPD and/or asthma in 1073 hospitals across Japan between July 2010 and May 2013. We performed multivariable logistic regression analysis to examine the association of various factors with all-cause in-hospital mortality, including diagnosis of ACO, asthma alone and COPD alone.

Of 30 405 eligible patients, in-hospital mortality in patients with ACO, asthma alone and COPD alone was 2.3%, 1.2% and 9.7%, respectively. COPD patients had a significantly higher mortality than ACO patients (odds ratio 1.96; 95% confidence interval: 1.38-2.79); patients with asthma alone showed lower mortality (0.70; 0.50-0.97). Higher mortality was also significantly associated with older age, male gender, lower body mass index, more severe dyspnoea, lower level of consciousness, worse activities of daily life and higher daily dose of corticosteroids.

Asthma alone was associated with lower mortality, but COPD alone was associated with higher mortality than ACO.