The following is a summary of “Clinical phenotypes of COPD and their impact on quality of life: A cross-sectional study,” published in the December 2023 issue of Pulmonology by Anandan et al.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is characterized by different clinical features termed phenotypes, encompassing symptoms, exacerbations, morbidity, and treatment responsiveness. While various studies have examined the prevalence of COPD phenotypes, fewer have explored their associated Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to determine the prevalence of distinct COPD phenotypes and assess their specific disease-related HRQoL.

They studied 136 COPD patients at a tertiary teaching institute(May 2021 to December 2022). These patients were categorized into four specific COPD phenotypes based on their clinical manifestations. To assess their disease-specific HRQoL, participants were evaluated using the St. George Respiratory Questionnaire-COPD (SGRQ-c) and the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) questionnaires.

The results showed 136 COPD patients, with identified prevalence rates for specific COPD phenotypes as non-exacerbator (NE) in 79 (58.1%) patients, exacerbator emphysema (EEM) in 16 (11.8%), exacerbator chronic bronchitis (ECB) in 31 (22.8%), and asthma COPD overlap (ACO) in 10 (7.4%). Analysis indicated that the ECB and EEM phenotypes had significantly poorer HRQoL than the  NE and ACO phenotypes. Based on the SGRQ-c score, the ECB and EEM phenotypes showed significantly diminished HRQoL in comparison to the NE (P<0.0001) and ACO (P=0.011) phenotypes. Similarly, when evaluated using the CAT score, the ECB and EEM phenotypes also exhibited notably compromised HRQoL compared to the NE (P<0.0001) and ACO (P=0.015) phenotypes. Furthermore, particular phenotypes consistently displayed the lowest scores across various CAT items and SGRQ-c components.

They concluded that COPD patients with NE phenotype dominated, while ECB and EEM suffered the most in quality of life, calling for phenotype-specific therapy exploration.

Source: resmedjournal.com/article/S0954-6111(23)00340-2/fulltext