Khalid A. Ansari, Niall P. Keaney and Hajed M. Al. Otaibi
Aim: To examine the relationship of duration of symptoms with the disease outcomes in patients with COPD. Background: COPD patients have varying degree of symptoms. We hypothesized that duration of symptoms may be useful to understand the disease progression. Methods: This observational study carried out in England. The patients were recruited and followed up between September 1999 and December 2002 and then 2007-2008, respectively. Patient’s demographics were recorded. Medical Research Council Dyspnoea (D) score were used to measure degree of breathlessness and spirometry were utilized to evaluate the severity of disease. Patients were asked about the COPD symptoms and for how long they have these symptoms including shortness of breath, cough, and the duration of their symptoms. Results: A total of 269 subjects were recruited. Of those 227 were with the diagnosis of COPD and 42 as non COPD or control group. The data is normally distributed. The study results show that there is a strong correlation between duration of symptoms and physiological variables both at baseline and at follow up. These include age (p=0.04), pack years (p=0.02), MRC score (p=0.04) and FEV1 (p<0.001).When GOLD stages of severity were used to explore the relationship; it becomes evident that patients with higher GOLD stage had longer duration of symptoms. Conclusion: These findings indicate the possible role of considering duration of symptoms as a useful marker of disease progression and its relationship with other disease outcomes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.