Comorbidities as an element of multidimensional prognostic assessment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by chronic airflow limitation, some significant extrapulmonary effects, and important comorbidities. The BODE index, a multidimensional scale, has been proposed to better identify severity of the disease and to predict survival. The goal of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of concomitant diseases in patients with COPD and to assess correlations between comorbidities and the BODE index. Eighty patients with COPD were enrolled. They were at least 40 years old and had more than a 10-year history of smoking. The most frequent comorbidities were: systemic hypertension, edema of lower limbs, movement disorders, varices of lower limbs. Subjects with higher scores in BODE index had significantly greater prevalence of arrhythmias and episodes of pneumonia. Evident correlation was observed between low FEV(1) and episodes of pneumonia. We also found that patients with higher BODE scores had more exacerbations of COPD. Comorbidities are very common in COPD. Results indicate a close connection between the BODE index and some comorbidities, which suggests that these conditions may aggravate the COPD course and increase risk of mortality.