Table 2.

Set of indicators with criteria for proactive palliative care.

A patient hospitalized for AECOPD is eligible for proactive palliative care when meeting ≥2 criteria of the following set of indicators:
1.	Hypoxaemia and/or hypercapnia at discharge
2.	Treatment of the exacerbation with non-invasive ventilation (NIV)
3.	Patient needs professional home care service for personal care after discharge
4.	Negative answer to the surprise question: ‘Would I (as lung specialist) be surprised if this patient would have a subsequent readmission for AECOPD within 8 weeks and/or would die in the next year?
5.	The diagnosis of a severe comorbidity such as: Non-curable malignancy or Cor pulmonale (proven or non proven) or Proven Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) or Diabetes mellitus with neuropathy or Renal failure, clearance < 40 (GFR: in ml/min)
6.	CCQ total, day version ≥ 3
7.	MRC dyspnoea = 5
8.	FEV1 (measured before AECOPD) <30% of predicted
9.	BMI < 21 or unplanned weight loss (>10% weight loss in last 6 months or > 5% in last month)
10.	Previous hospital admissions for AECOPD (last 2 years > 2 and/or last year > 1)
11.	Age > 70 years

AECOPD: acute exacerbation chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; GFR = glomerular filtration rate; CCQ: clinical COPD questionnaire; MRC dyspnoea:medical research council dyspnoea questionnaire; FEV1 = forced expiratory volume in 1 second; BMI: body mass index.