The AJMC® COPD compendium is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and expert insights for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
March 23rd 2025
The systemic immune response index outperformed other inflammatory markers in predicting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Review Raises Questions About the Role of Blood Eosinophils as a Biomarker in COPD
July 14th 2019Using blood eosinophils as a proxy for tissue eosinophils has become a biomarker for the risk of exacerbation, as well as for response to inhaled corticosteroids, in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and blood eosinophils are currently considered a treatable trait for managing COPD.
Read More
CDC: Rates of COPD Are Similar by Geographical Location Regardless of Smoking Status
June 28th 2019Patterns of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prevalence by geographical location were found to be similar among current, former, and never smokers, indicating factors other than smoking status, such as secondhand smoke exposure, may influence the risk of developing the progressive lung disease.
Read More
Study Supports Use of Practiced Threshold for Diagnosing COPD
June 26th 2019The 70% ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second to forced vital capacity proved as or more accurate than other thresholds for predicting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)–related hospitalizations and deaths.
Read More
Higher Levels of Cardiorespiratory Fitness Associated With Lower Long-Term Risk of COPD
June 21st 2019Healthy middle-aged men who had high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness had a 31% lower risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) compared with men with low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness.
Read More
Coaching, Participation in Clinical Trials May Improve Inhaler Technique of Patients With COPD
June 13th 2019Abstracts presented at the 2019 American Thoracic Society International Conference suggest that participation in clinical trials and 1-on-1 coaching may improve inhaler technique of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or other respiratory disorders.
Read More
Geisinger to Test Vocal Biomarker Algorithm to Detect COPD Exacerbations
June 11th 2019Geisinger is launching a new study to test if a novel technique can detect flare-ups or exacerbations experienced by patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by listening to their voices through their smart phones.
Read More
Despite High Symptom Burden, Adherence to Medication Remains Low in Missouri COPD Population
June 6th 2019A study focusing on community pharmacies in Missouri, which has a moderate to high prevalence of COPD (6.5% to 7.5%), found that patients with COPD receiving respiratory medication from the pharmacies had high symptom burden and low medication adherence.
Read More
A Smoking Cessation Program Helped Nicotine-Dependent Patients With COPD Quit
June 5th 2019Results from a new study show that most nicotine-dependent patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who attended a 3-month smoking cessation program at a single-center clinic in Japan were able to quit smoking.
Read More
African American COPD Patients Underutilize Pulmonary Rehabilitation
May 21st 2019Researchers determined that African Americans were less likely to participate in pulmonary rehabiliation programs and examined whether the location of the nearest program had an effect on likelihood of participation.
Read More
New Computer App Could Predict Risk Factors for Adverse Outcomes of COPD Exacerbations
May 15th 2019A new computer application could easily and reliably predict the short-term risk of adverse outcomes and guide treatment options for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who visited an emergency department due to an exacerbation.
Read More
Eosinophil Counts Determine COPD-Related Healthcare Resource Utlization
May 15th 2019Blood eosinophil (EOS) counts of 150 cells/mcL or greater were associated with increased chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)–related healthcare resource utilization compared with EOS counts less than 150 cells/mcL, regardless of multiple inhaler triple therapy use.
Read More
Study Finds Suboptimal Adherence to GOLD Guidelines for COPD
May 9th 2019An analysis of adoption of and adherence to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines in the primary care setting unearthed disappointing results, finding suboptimal use of pulmonary function tests, no routine use of validated symptoms scales for diagnosis, and variation in pharmacotherapy.
Read More
Azithromycin May Reduce Treatment Failure in Patients With Acute Exacerbation of COPD
May 3rd 2019A randomized controlled trial found that patients hospitalized for an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive poulmonary disease (COPD) experienced reduced rates of treatment failure when adding azithromycin to their standard of care.
Read More
Comorbidities May Wipe Out Value of Follow-up Visits in Preventing Readmissions for COPD
May 1st 2019A new study has examined whether rapid follow-up appointments within 10 days of discharge affect the risk of readmission for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who experience acute exacerbations that lead to hospitalizations.
Read More
Unreported Exacerbations of COPD Could Affect Outcomes of Clinical Trials
April 24th 2019Unreported exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in clinical trials may be more prevalent than researchers realize, and this could cause them to underestimate the frequency of clinically significant exacerbations. This could affect the conclusions studies reach about the effectiveness of treatments.
Read More
Study Identifies Gender Differences in Evaluation, Treatment, Outcomes Among Veterans With COPD
April 16th 2019Among veterans admitted to the hospital for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation, women were evaluated and treated differently than men prior to hospitalization and had better hospital-associated outcomes.
Read More
Effect of Changing COPD Triple-Therapy Inhaler Combinations on COPD Symptoms
April 10th 2019Changing patients from an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/long-acting β agonist (LABA) inhaler and long-acting muscarinic agonist (LAMA) inhaler to a LAMA/LABA inhaler and a separate ICS inhaler did not appear to affect patient-reported chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) symptom scores.
Read More