COPD has experienced a steady increase during the last decades, affecting to over 400 million people globally, becoming the third leading cause of death for chronic diseases, with 3.2 million patients dying due to this disease [2, 3]. Recent normative and guidelines consider COPD an heterogeneous...
They are given on a regular basis in 'Moderate' to 'Very Severe' disease, (Stages II—IV) or on an as-needed basis at all stages of the disease in order to relieve breathlessness and improve exercise capacity. For regular treatment, long-acting bronchodilators are more effective [23,24]...
although no clear definition of severe, very severe or end-stage COPD is available in literature), mainly suffer from symptoms such as dyspnea, pain, fatigue, anxiety and low mood, leading to a poor quality of life in the final stages of the disease...
The annual death rate in the UK from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) approaches that from lung cancer [1]. Palliative care in this group of patients is challenging in terms of the assessment and provision of their emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs and car...
Notes and ideas which would be used in subsequent stages were coded. Initial codes from the data, with interview extracts as examples, were then recorded to be used later on. Codes where then organised and annotated into themes which at the end would adequately capture the contours of the ...
All stages consist of an FEV1/FVC ratio of <0.70. The primary determinant of a patient’s GOLD stage of COPD severity is an individual’s FEV1 predicted value [2]. Clinicians should also consider physical exam findings during COPD staging. Mild cases may present with no abnormalities on the...