Table 5.
Awareness and management of COPD exacerbations
| Awareness of COPD exacerbations, n (%) | Follow-up interview participants (N = 400) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ever experienced exacerbation? | |||
| Yes | 266 (66.5) | ||
| No | 132 (33.0) | ||
| Missing | 2 (0.5) | ||
| Severity of last exacerbationa | |||
| Mild | 21 (7.9) | ||
| Moderate | 74 (27.8) | ||
| Severe | 127 (47.7) | ||
| Very severe | 42 (15.8) | ||
| Missing | 2 (0.8) | ||
| Aware when an exacerbation about to happen?a | |||
| Yes | 169 (63.5) | ||
| No | 97 (36.5) | ||
| First course of action for most recent COPD exacerbation,b n (%) | Managed at home n = 161 (60.5) | Sought medical help n = 99 (37.2) | |
| Activities | |||
| Carry on your activities as you would normally do | 17 (10.6) | 12 (12.1) | |
| Pace yourself or do things differently | 45 (28.0) | 21 (21.2) | |
| Rest up completely | 102 (63.4) | 64 (64.6) | |
| None | 0 | 2 (2.0) | |
| Missing | 0 | 3 (3.0) | |
| Maintenance inhaler | |||
| Carry on taking your maintenance inhaler as normal | 138 (85.7) | 74 (74.7) | |
| Increase the dose of your current inhaler | 16 (9.9) | 13 (13.1) | |
| Take your current inhaler more often during the day | 9 (5.6) | 12 (12.1) | |
| None | 0 | 3 (3.0) | |
| Missing | 0 | 3 (3.0) | |
| Additional medications | |||
| Nebuliser | 6 (3.7) | 14 (14.1) | |
| Oral steroids | 88 (54.7) | 54 (54.5) | |
| Antibiotics | 101 (62.7) | 63 (63.6) | |
| None of the above | 54 (33.5) | 27 (27.3) | |
| Missing | 1 (0.6) | 3 (3.0) | |
| Seek medical help at any point? Yes / no | 92 (57.1) / 69 (42.9) | 99 (37.2) / 0 | |
| Medical provider contacted or seen | Primary provider | Additional provider | |
| GP | 70 (76.1) | 64 (64.6) | 9 (9.1) |
| Practice nurse | 6 (6.5) | 7 (7.1) | 0 |
| Specialist doctor | 1 (1.1) | 0 | 0 |
| Respiratory nurse | 0.0 (0.0) | 1 (1.0) | 0 |
| Urgent care service | 0.0 (0.0) | 5 (5.1) | 0 |
| Emergency service | 16 (17.4) | 23 (23.2) | 4 (4.0) |
| Other | 0 | 1 (1.0) | 0 |
| None | 0 | 0 | 71 (71.7) |
| Missing | 0 | 2 (2.0) | 15 (15.2) |
COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, GP general practitioner
a n = 266
b Missing, n = 6 (2.3%)