Table 2.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study participants
| Sex
|
P-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Male N=4,367 |
Female N=1,758 |
||
| Age, years | 69 (60.5–73) | 64 (56–73) | <0.001 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 27.7 (25.1–30.5) | 27.3 (24.4–31.2) | <0.036 |
| Smoking status | N=4,305 | N=1,694 | |
| Current smokers | 1,982 (46.0) | 887 (52.4) | <0.001 |
| Ex-smokers | 2,061 (47.9) | 458 (27.3) | <0.001 |
| Never smokers | 262 (6.1) | 349 (20.6) | <0.001 |
| Pack-years | 52 (36–75) | 35 (22–50) | <0.001 |
| GOLD COPD stage | N=4,360 | N=1,754 | <0.001 |
| I | 749 (17.2) | 432 (24.6) | |
| II | 1,521 (34.9) | 646 (36.8) | |
| III | 1,125 (25.8) | 442 (25.2) | |
| IV | 965 (22.1) | 234 (13.3) | |
| Newly diagnosed cases | 720 (17.1) | 344 (20.2) | 0.005 |
| Therapy compliance (how often someone forgets to take his/her medication) | 0.854 | ||
| Never/almost never | 2,320 (54.8) | 922 (53.9) | |
| <3 times a month | 904 (21.4) | 372 (21.7) | |
| 1 time a week | 477 (11.3) | 189 (11.0) | |
| >1 time a week or almost every day | 532 (12.6) | 228 (13.3) | |
| Respiratory failure – Type I | 1,023 (23.6) | 399 (22.9) | 0.544 |
| Respiratory failure – Type II | 495 (11.5) | 129 (7.4) | <0.001 |
| Use of nebulizer | 1,003 (23.0) | 313 (17.9) | <0.001 |
| Noninvasive mechanical ventilation | 151 (3.5) | 50 (2.9) | 0.222 |
| Number of exacerbations in the preceding year | 2.0 (0.0–3.0) | 2.0 (0.0–3.0) | 0.826 |
| Number of hospitalizations in the preceding year | 0.0 (0.0–1.0) | 0.0 (0.0–1.0) | 0.116 |
| Hospitalization in ICU | 186 (4.3) | 49 (2.8) | 0.007 |
Note: Data are presented as median (interquartile ranges) for numerical variables or as number (%) for categorical variables.
Abbreviations: COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; GOLD, Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease; ICU, intensive care unit.