Table 3.

Perceived severity of COPD depending on patient characteristics and severity scores

Patients’ characteristics	Patients’ perceived severity of COPD			P-value
	Very severe/severe (%)	Moderate (%)	Mild (%)
Sex				<0.001
Males	42.4	29.6	28.0
Females	19.3	39.7	41.0
Age group (years)				<0.001
40–49	15.4	25.6	59.0
50–59	13.7	30.0	56.3
60–69	30.2	38.4	31.4
>70	46.9	36.5	16.6
BMI group				0.117
Underweight/normal weight	26.7	33.3	40.0
Overweight	37.2	29.0	33.8
Obese	28.9	42.3	28.8
Smoking status				0.127
Current smoker	27.2	35.9	36.9
Ex-smoker	40.0	31.8	28.2
Nonsmoker	26.1	36.1	37.8
Passive smoking				0.610
Yes	27.8	38.3	33.9
No	32.7	31.9	35.4
Environmental smoke				0.230
Yes	16.6	33.4	50.0
No	34.1	34.1	32.8
Comorbidities				0.314
Any comorbidity	31.3	35.3	33.4
No comorbidity	38.1	19.0	42.9
COPD + asthma				0.140
No	40.2	30.5	29.3
Yes	29.2	35.4	35.4
Years passed since COPD diagnosis				0.001
<5 years from diagnosis	19.4	38.0	42.6
5–10 years from diagnosis	39.4	27.9	32.7
>10 years from diagnosis	39.6	35.2	25.2
CAT score				<0.001
<10	3.7	5.6	90.7
≥10	36.4	40.3	23.3
mMRC grade				<0.001
Mild breathlessness (0–1)	17.5	31.6	50.9
Moderate breathlessness (2–3)	39.5	43.2	17.3
Severe breathlessness (4)	80.6	12.9	6.5
Exacerbations during the past 12 months				<0.001
No exacerbation	14.9	30.3	54.8
Exacerbation	47.5	37.6	14.9
GOLD categorya				<0.001
A	4.2	4.2	91.6
B	19.3	42.1	38.6
D	48.2	38.7	13.1

Notes:

^aOnly six patients were in GOLD category C, and therefore were excluded. Bold indicates the statistically significant results at a level of 5%.

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; CAT, COPD assessment test; GOLD, Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; mMRC, modified Medical Research Council.