Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
CJEM. 2010 Nov;12(6):500-8. doi: 10.1017/s1481803500012720.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a widespread illness with an increasing prevalence in older adults; exacerbations resulting in visits to the emergency department (ED) are common. We sought to determine the epidemiology of COPD presentations to EDs by older adults in Alberta.
Administrative databases were used to examine all ED encounters for COPD from April 1999 to March 2005 in Alberta. Data included demographics of patients and timing of ED visits. Data analysis included descriptive summaries and age-sex directly standardized visit rates (DSVRs).
There were 85 330 ED visits for acute COPD made by 38 638 patients 55 years of age or older during the study period. More men (53.2%) presented, and the mean age at presentation was 72 years. The age-sex DSVRs remained stable from 2000/01 (24.4/1000) to 2004/05 (25.6/1000). Presentation rates differed among population subgroups. Overall, 67% of visits resulted in discharge from the ED.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a common presentation in Alberta EDs; however, the rates of presentation were stable during the study period, and monthly and hourly trends exhibited similar patterns for each year. Disparities based on age, sex, and socio-economic and cultural statuses were identified. Targeted interventions could be implemented to reduce future ED visits for COPD.
慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）是一种在老年人中发病率不断上升的广泛疾病；由此导致的急诊就诊（ED）也很常见。我们旨在确定艾伯塔省老年人群中 COPD 患者在 ED 的就诊情况的流行病学。
使用行政数据库研究了 1999 年 4 月至 2005 年 3 月期间艾伯塔省所有因 COPD 而在 ED 就诊的患者。数据包括患者的人口统计学特征和 ED 就诊时间。数据分析包括描述性总结和年龄性别直接标准化就诊率（DSVR）。
在研究期间，有 85330 名 55 岁及以上的患者因急性 COPD 到 ED 就诊，共涉及 38638 名患者。更多的男性（53.2%）就诊，就诊时的平均年龄为 72 岁。2000/01 年（24.4/1000）至 2004/05 年（25.6/1000）之间，年龄性别 DSVR 保持稳定。就诊率在人群亚组之间存在差异。总体而言，67%的就诊者从 ED 出院。
COPD 是艾伯塔省 ED 的常见就诊疾病；然而，在研究期间，就诊率保持稳定，且每月和每小时的趋势在每年都呈现相似的模式。根据年龄、性别以及社会经济和文化地位存在差异。可以实施有针对性的干预措施，以减少未来因 COPD 而到 ED 就诊的情况。
