Medication utilization, adherence, and indicators of treatment and care were analyzed to assess treatment of COPD patients based on recognized guidelines. In this retrospective analysis of managed care patients, we sought to document and evaluate patterns of medication utilization and medication-related assessments recorded for COPD patients. COPD is a progressive illness with worsening symptoms, and therefore patients need to be actively prescribed appropriate therapies and to have ongoing assessments to manage their COPD and improve their health status. 11 This lack of knowledge of recommended treatment may lead to suboptimal management of COPD patients in the primary care setting.
9, 10ĭespite the widespread availability of evidence-based guidelines, survey results suggest that practitioners have major gaps in their knowledge of the core elements of COPD management, with at least 50% reportedly unaware of guidelines for COPD diagnosis and treatment. For example, the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines recommend that an effective COPD management plan should include assessment and monitoring of the disease, reduction in risk factors, management of stable COPD, and management of exacerbations.
Treatment guidelines aim to increase awareness of COPD and improve patient management and outcomes. 2 These advances have also resulted in the development of COPD diagnosis and treatment guidelines, 6 – 9 which are widely available to health care practitioners. 4, 5Īdvances in pharmacotherapy and improvements in COPD disease management have brought about the realization that COPD is a preventable and treatable disease. 1 This is likely an underestimate of COPD mortality, given that COPD patients often have a high number of comorbidities and complications, 2, 3 and airflow obstruction is an important contributor to other causes of morbidity and mortality.
The World Health Organization estimates chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to be the fourth leading cause of death, accounting for at least 5% of all deaths worldwide (about 3.02 million).
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