Characteristics of participants with acute chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the emergency department
| Characteristic | No. (%) of participants*n = 1415 |
|---|---|
| Age, mean ± SD; yr | 70.6 ± 10.6 |
| Range, yr | 50–96 |
| Sex, female | 710 (50.2) |
| Hospital site | |
| The Ottawa Hospital General Campus, Ottawa | 313 (22.1) |
| Kingston General Hospital, Kingston | 304 (21.5) |
| The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus, Ottawa | 292 (20.6) |
| University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton | 220 (15.6) |
| Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary | 178 (12.6) |
| Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto | 108 (7.6) |
| Arrival status | |
| Arrived by ambulance | 804 (56.8) |
| Body temperature, mean ± SD; °C | 36.5 ± 0.8 |
| Heart rate, mean ± SD; beats/min | 95.8 ± 19.3 |
| Respiratory rate, mean ± SD; breaths/min | 23.9 ± 6.1 |
| Systolic blood pressure, mean ± SD; mm Hg | 138.3 ± 24.4 |
| SaO2 by oximetry, mean ± SD; % | 94.0 ± 5.0 |
| Duration of respiratory distress, mean ± SD; h | 65.3 ± 53.7 |
| Canadian Triage Acuity Scale, median (IQR)† | 2 (1–3) |
| Secondary diagnosis | |
| Heart failure | 63 (4.5) |
| Medical history | |
| COPD | 1380 (97.5) |
| Heart failure | 248 (17.5) |
| Intubation for respiratory distress | 51 (3.6) |
| MI or angina | 296 (20.9) |
| CABG or PCI | 156 (11.0) |
| Pacemaker | 54 (3.8) |
| Atrial fibrillation | 154 (10.9) |
| Peripheral vascular disease (intervention) | 50 (3.5) |
| Cancer | 36 (2.5) |
| Hypertension | 744 (52.6) |
| Stroke or TIA | 162 (11.5) |
| Diabetes 269 | (19.0) |
| Valvular heart disease | 46 (3.3) |
| Dementia | 40 (2.8) |
| Chronic renal failure | 85 (6.0) |
| Smoker, current or former | 1015 (71.7) |
| Using oxygen at home | 349 (24.7) |
| Current respiratory medications | 1370 (96.9) |
| Antibiotic | 217 (15.3) |
| Inhaled anticholinergic | 1042 (73.6) |
| Inhaled β-agonist | 1281 (90.5) |
| Inhaled steroid | 1015 (71.7) |
| Oral corticosteroid | 202 (14.3) |
| Treatment received in the emergency department | |
| β-Agonist inhalation | 1233 (87.1) |
| Corticosteroid, administered intravenously or orally | 1009 (71.3) |
| Antibiotic, administered intravenously or orally | 861 (60.9) |
| Noninvasive ventilation | 117 (8.3) |
| Laboratory test result | |
| White blood cell, mean ± SD; 109/L | 10.5 ± 5.0 n = 1195 |
| Hemoglobin, mean ± SD; g/L | 131.8 ± 19.4 n = 1313 |
| Urea, mean ± SD; mmol/L | 6.2 ± 3.8 n = 1202 |
| Creatinine, mean ± SD; mmol/L | 80.1 ± 37.9 n = 1306 |
| Serum CO2, mean ± SD; mmol/L | 27.7 ± 4.3 n = 1307 |
| Potassium, mean ± SD; mmol/L | 4.1 ±1.0 n = 1294 |
| Glucose, mean ± SD; mmol/L | 7.1 ± 2.7 n = 1279 |
| pCO2, mean ± SD; mm Hg | 52.1 ±14.9 n = 1001 |
| pO2, mean ± SD; mm Hg | 47.8 ± 28.4 n = 923 |
| pH, mean ± SD | 7.4 ± 0.1 n = 1001 |
| ECG | 1196 (84.5) |
| AV conduction disturbance | 234 (19.6) |
| Atrial fibrillation or flutter | 109 (9.1) |
| Radiography of the chest | 1381 (97.6) |
| Pneumonia | 160 (11.6) |
| Pleural effusion | 142 (10.3) |
| Cardiomegaly | 134 (9.7) |
| Pulmonary congestion | 89 (6.4) |
Note: AV = atrioventricular, CABG = coronary artery bypass graft, CO2 = carbon dioxide, COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ECG = electrocardiography, IQR = interquartile range, MI = myocardial infarction, PCI = percutaneous coronary intervention, pCO2 = partial pressure of carbon dioxide, pO2 = partial pressure of oxygen, Sao2 = oxygen saturation, SD = standard deviation, TIA = transient ischemic attack.
↵* Unless stated otherwise.
↵† Canadian Triage Acuity Scale ranges from 1 (most urgent) to 5 (least urgent).