Table 2 Exacerbation frequency of COPD patients according to the severity of airflow limitation based on PB-FEV1
Exacerbation frequency | All COPD patients, N = 374 | Severity of airflow limitation based on PB-FEV1 (% predicted) | p-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
< 30% | 30–49% | 50–79% | ≥ 80% | |||
Number of COPD patients (% of total COPD patients) | ||||||
85 (22.7) | 142 (38.0) | 111 (29.7) | 36 (9.6) | |||
Total, episodes (mean ± SD, 95% CI) Moderate, episodes (mean ± SD, 95% CI) Severe, episodes (mean ± SD, 95% CI) | 2.2 ± 4.2; 1.7–2.6 1.4 ± 3.1; 1.1–1.7 0.8 ± 1.5; 0.6–0.9 | 4.0 ± 7.0; 2.5–5.5 3.0 ± 5.5; 1.8–4.2 1.1 ± 2.0; 0.6–1.5 | 1.8 ± 2.9; 1.3–2.2 1.0 ± 1.8; 0.7–1.3 0.8 ± 1.4; 0.6–1.0 | 1.6 ± 2.7; 1.1–2.1 1.0 ± 1.8; 0.6–1.3 0.6 ± 1.3; 0.4–0.9 | 1.1 ± 1.8; 0.5–1.8 0.7 ± 1.1; 0.3–1.1 0.5 ± 0.8; 0.2–0.8 | < 0.001 < 0.001 0.106 |