COPD – Severity

Transcript

“So how exactly do we look at COPD severity? There’s actually three measures we look into in terms of, you know, how well a patient’s COPD is controlled or how severe a patient’s COPD actually is. First thing we look at is spirometry. Specifically, we look at the forced expiratory volume in one second, or how much air the patient is able to rapidly exhale in one second. Looking at that value gives us a gauge on for one aspect of COPD severity. The more volume the patient is able to exhale out in the first second, usually the better. The second aspect of COPD severity is the patient’s day-to-day symptoms. How symptomatic are they exactly? How much are they able to do in comparison to their peers? How quickly do they get short of breath? How much cough and phlegm do they have? How much is COPD actually affecting their day to day activity?

Gauging all of these factors will help us determine exactly how much the COPD is affecting the patient on a day-to-day basis. The third step of what we look for in terms of COPD severity is frequency of exacerbations or how often a patient is having a flare up in their COPD symptoms. COPD exacerbations are usually treated with a combination of steroids and antibiotics. How often the patient gets more sick in comparison to their baseline, how often they get hospitalized, how severe their hospitalizations usually are, this frequency and rate of exacerbation as a final step, we look at in terms of determining the severity of a patient’s COPD. Taking all three of these values, the spirometric value, the patient’s day-to-day activity and functional level, and finally, the rate of COPD exacerbation. Taking all three of these values together, we then determine the severity of a patient’s COPD.”