COPD patients face lower life expectancy

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) is associated with an average of 2 years of life lost, with life expectancy progressively decreasing with increasing disease severity, as reported in a study.

Researchers pooled data from eight US general population cohorts, involving participants aged 17–98 years enrolled from 1983 to 2011 and followed up longitudinally through 2020. COPD was defined by a prebronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) to forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio of <0.70, with disease staged according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) recommendations.

The main outcome was survival, as estimated using the GOLD stage from the time of initial spirometry. Life expectancy estimates were adjusted for demographics, educational attainment, body mass index, smoking status, pack-years of smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia.

A total of 45,886 participants (mean age 52.4 years, 56.3 percent female) were included in the analysis. Of these, 30.2 percent died over a median follow-up of 15.2 years. COPD was present in 17.6 percent of participants.

Mean life expectancy for individuals aged 65 years was 21.5 years in the absence of COPD, 20 years in the presence of GOLD stage 1 COPD, 16.4 years in the presence of GOLD stage 2, 13.1 years in the presence of GOLD stage 3, and 10.7 years in the presence GOLD stage 4. Years life lost were 0.71, 2.58, 5.07, and 7.12 for GOLD stages 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Comparable estimates were observed between those who never smoked and those with a history of smoking.

Years of life lost for GOLD stages 2–4 were similar or greater than the years of life lost for hypertension (2.7), diabetes (4.1), obesity (0.5), and cigarette smoking (5.5).