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Author Spotlight: Evaluating the Therapeutic Efficacy of Moving Cupping Along Meridians for Acute Exacerbation of COPD
Published on: September 27, 2024
Prevalence, characteristics, and risk of exacerbation in young patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Yong Suk Jo1, Kyung Joo Kim1, Chin Kook Rhee1
1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea.
Background And Objective:
Early identification of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in young individuals could be beneficial to attempt preventive interventions. The objective of this study was to investigate clinical features and outcomes of young individuals with COPD from the general population cohort.
Methods:
We included individuals from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) with spirometry and identifiable smoking status. Young subjects with COPD were defined as aged between 40 and 50 years and had baseline forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV1]/forced vital capacity [FVC] ratio less than 0.7. Outcomes include the risk of exacerbation and medical expenses during 3 years of follow-up.
Results:
Among 2236 individuals aged between 40 and 50 years, 95 (4.2%) had COPD, including 36 who were never-smokers and 59 who were ever-smokers. Approximately 98% of COPD subjects had mild to moderate airflow limitation. Inhaler treatment was given to only 6.3% patients in the COPD group. The risk of exacerbation for a 3-year period was analyzed using the never-smoker, non-COPD group as a comparator. Hazards ratio for exacerbation was 1.60 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.18-14.20) in the never-smoker COPD group and 1.94 (95% CI 0.31-12.07) in the ever-smoker COPD group of young subjects. COPD related medical costs were not significantly different between non-COPD and COPD groups of young individuals.
Conclusions:
The risk of exacerbation showed an increasing trend in COPD patients regardless of smoking status compared to non-COPD. More attention to early identification and provision of preventive measures are needed to reduce disease progression and improve outcome.
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