Objective: To survey the present status of medical treatment for Chinese outpatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) based upon the guidelines for diagnosing and treating COPD (2007 Revised Edition and 2013 Revised Edition) and explore the impact of new guideline on treatment regimens.
Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at 11 participating hospitals. Stable COPD patients were consecutively recruited from outpatient clinics in China between September 2007 and December 2008 and categorized into the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) I-IV classification and A-D groups according to the Chinese guidelines for diagnosing and treating COPD (2007 Revised Edition and 2013 Revised Edition). The authors compared the present status of medical treatment of two guidelines and analyze the impact of new guideline on treatment regimens.
Results: Among a total of 749 patients, 79.2% (593/749) patients received medical treatment. The distribution of classification GOLD I-IV was 34 (4.5%), 211 (28.2%), 309 (41.3%) and 195 (26.0%). According to the guideline 2007, the patients on medical under-treatment based upon the guidelines in GOLD I-IV classification were 32.4% (11/34), 53.6% (113/211), 57.6% (178/309) and 55.4% (108/195); those on medical treatment: 23.5% (8/34), 3.8% (8/211), 28.8% (89/309) and 33.3% (65/195); those on medical over-treatment: 44.1% (15/34), 42.7% (90/211), 13.6% (42/309), 11.3% (22/195). The distribution of categories A-D was 93 (12.4%), 45 (6.0%), 196 (26.2%), and 415 (55.4%). According to guideline 2013, the patients on medical under-treatment were 34.4% (32/93), 62.2% (28/45), 67.9% (133/196) and 60.7% (252/415); those on medical treatment: 24.7% (23/93), 4.4% (2/45), 32.1% (63 /196) and 39.3% (163/415); those on medical over-treatment: 40.9% (38/93), 33.3% (15/45), 0 and 0. The concordance analysis comparing the judgments of treatment regimens by these two guideline yielded a weighted Kappa coefficient of 0.534 (P < 0.001), indicating that there was a moderate degree of judgments between two guidelines. Medical treatment regimens recommended by new guideline was different from old guideline in 143 COPD patients. Among them, 24 patients (16.8%) required a step-down therapy while 119 patients (83.2%) a step-up therapy.
Conclusions: There are more outpatients with COPD on medical treatment, but few of them have received standardized treatment. Compared with the old GOLD classification, more patients are recommended for a step-up therapy by new stratification.