TABLE 1.
Baseline Characteristics of the Enrolled Patients
| Variable | Value (n = 40) |
| Age (yr)a | 68 (± 10) |
| Gender (female), n (%) | 32 (80) |
| Height (cm)a | 158 ± 26 |
| Real weight (kg)a | 72 ± 24 |
| Charlson scoreb | 2 (1–3) |
| Simplified Acute Physiology Score IIb | 28 (21–36) |
| Type of admission | |
| Medical | 37 (92.5) |
| Surgical | 3 (7.5) |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease classification, n (%) | |
| Moderate | 9 (22.5) |
| Severe | 25 (62.5) |
| Very severe | 6 (15) |
| Cause of exacerbation, n (%) | |
| Bacterial | 10 (25) |
| Viral | 8 (20) |
| Nonspecific | 22 (55) |
| Infiltrates on x-rayb | 1 (0–2) |
| LOS ICUb | 7 (4–10) |
| LOS hospitalb | 12 (9–15) |
LOS = length of stay.
aMean (± sd).
bMedian (interquartile range).