FRIDAY, Oct. 27, 2006 (HealthDay News) -- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure (CHF) are two of the most common causes of hospitalization among older adults, but COPD patients are much less likely to be tested for that disease, says a study in the October issue of Respiratory Care.
There are accepted standards for the diagnosis and management of both conditions, but this study found that there was a substantial difference in the use of primary confirmatory tests -- recommended both for diagnosis and assessment of disease severity -- between COPD and CHF.
Guidelines state that diagnosing COPD and determining treatment based on its severity is dependent on spirometry, a simple test that measures lung capacity and how fast air can be expelled from the lungs.
This study found that, over a six-month period, only about a third of patients admitted to Boston's Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center with a diagnosis of COPD had a spirometry test in the hospital or in the preceding eight years.
This means that most of the patients hospitalized for COPD did not have the specific test required to confirm the diagnosis, the researchers said.
In contrast, 78 percent of patients admitted to the hospital for CHF had an echocardiogram, the standard test used to confirm that diagnosis.
The findings suggest a major difference in the quality of diagnosis -- and possibly also in the appropriateness of disease management -- between patients hospitalized for COPD and CHF, the researchers said.
COPD affects 10 million to 20 million Americans. Each year in the United States, about 120,000 people die from COPD, making it the nation's fourth leading cause of death.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about COPD.
