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Background: No short patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments assess overall health status across different obstructive lung diseases. Thus, the wording of the introduction to the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Assessment Test (CAT) was modified to permit use in asthma and/or COPD. This tool is called the Chronic Airways Assessment Test (CAAT). Methods: The psychometric properties of the CAAT were evaluated using baseline data from the NOVELTY study (NCT02760329) in patients with physician-assigned asthma, asthma + COPD or COPD. Analyses included exploratory/confirmatory factor analyses, differential item functioning and analysis of construct validity. Responses to the CAAT and CAT were compared in patients with asthma + COPD and those with COPD. Results: CAAT items were internally consistent (Cronbach's alpha: > 0.7) within each diagnostic group (n = 510). Models for structural and measurement invariance were strong. Tests of differential item functioning showed small differences between asthma and COPD in individual items, but these were not consistent in direction and had minimal overall impact on the total score. The CAAT and CAT were highly consistent when assessed in all NOVELTY patients who completed both (N = 277, Pearson's correlation coefficient: 0.90). Like the CAT itself, CAAT scores correlated moderately (0.4–0.7) to strongly (> 0.7) with other PRO measures and weakly (< 0.4) with spirometry measures. Conclusions: CAAT scores appear to reflect the same health impairment across asthma and COPD, making the CAAT an appropriate PRO instrument for patients with asthma and/or COPD. Its brevity makes it suitable for use in clinical studies and routine clinical practice. Trial registration: NCT02760329. Plain language summary: Chronic Airways Assessment Test: a questionnaire adapted to assess overall health in asthma and/or COPD What is it about? Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can have a significant effect on a person's health and wellbeing. For people with these conditions, most of the health questionnaires available for use in patient care are designed for one specific diagnosis – either asthma (e.g. Asthma Control Test) or COPD (e.g. COPD Assessment Test [CAT]). A small number of questionnaires are available for use in both asthma and COPD, but these either take too long to complete, or do not focus on the overall health of patients. Since the symptoms in asthma and COPD overlap, a health questionnaire is needed for use in both asthma and COPD that can be completed during a routine visit to a doctor. This questionnaire could also help with research into the impact of lung diseases in people who have an unclear diagnosis. The CAT was changed so that people with asthma or COPD (or both) could use the same test. We named this new version the Chronic Airways Assessment Test (CAAT). Our goal was to determine whether CAAT scores meant the same level of health in people with asthma, COPD, or both conditions. The CAAT has eight questions, each scored 0 to 5, and takes only a few minutes to complete. The first three questions ask about the person's symptoms, including how often they cough and whether they have chest mucus or chest tightness. The remaining five questions ask how the person's asthma or COPD (or both) affects their daily life. These questions ask about shortness of breath, difficulties doing activities at home, confidence in leaving their home, whether they sleep soundly and how much energy they have. We found that the CAAT performed similarly in people with asthma or COPD (or both). This indicates that the CAAT score means a similar thing for someone with asthma, COPD or both conditions. Why is it important? The CAAT is a quick and simple way for patients to share with their doctor how bad their symptoms are and how much they affect their daily life. The development of the CAAT means that only one questionnaire is needed to measure the effect of a person's symptoms on their current level of health, whether they have asthma, COPD, or both. This will allow doctors to improve the level of care patients receive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a progressive lung disease characterized by chronic obstruction of the lung airflow that interferes with normal bleeding and is not fully reversible. Chronic smoking is the most common risk factor for COPD causing severe cough, wheezing, labored breathing and reduced functionality. COPD not only exerts pulmonary symptoms but also has a spill over the extra pulmonary effects. Owing to the impact of the disease, it may lead to conditions like osteoporosis, cardiovascular complications as well as to psychological effects such as depression and anxiety. Such comorbidities are hidden and are not effectively treated. Depression, one of the most common hidden comorbidities is known to be present but never diagnosed. Various scales like HAM-D and Bode Index can be used to diagnose the extent of depression. Our review mainly focuses on the various studies conducted worldwide and comparing the results of the same. Based on the worldwide analysis, depression is known to affect a COPD patient at later stages and requires immediate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common disease and a significant burden worldwide. The clinical symptoms of this disease include progressive dyspnea, cough, expectoration, and wheezing, among others. At present, the primary focus has been on reducing the frequency of acute exacerbations and improving lung function and dyspnea symptoms, and limited attention has been paid to cough and expectoration symptoms, which may be associated with a decrease in lung function, more acute exacerbations, and hospitalizations. Therefore, this outcomes in patients with COPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COPD is characterized by non-remitting airflow limitation and persistent respiratory symptoms which is an enhanced inflammatory response to prolonged exposure to smoking or noxious gases or particles and manifested through chronic cough, effort dyspnea, expectoration and wheezing, symptoms that appears in context of airways hyper-responsiveness and may be partially reversible. Objective: Assessment of COPD patients in Gamal Abd El Nasser Hospital during period from January 2017 to June 2017. Subjects and Methods: This study was a cross sectional study that included 290 COPD patients recommended for spirometric assessment. The patients were classified into 2 groups: Outpatients and inpatients in the period from January 2017 to June 2017, they were subjected to full medical history, general and local examination, Pre and post bronchodilator spirometric study according to (GOLD, 2017) and each patient will be subjected to the following questionnaire [Serial number, Name, Age, Sex, Occupation, Residence, Level of education, Smoking, Smoking index, Family history of COPD, Symptoms, Number and severity of exacerbation attacks in the last year, Number of Hospitalization during the last year, Vaccination status, Spirometry, Treatment prescribed by, Treatment, Inhalation therapy, Regulation of treatment, Non pharmacological therapy, Satisfaction of treatment, co morbidities, Complications, Outcome for inpatient]. Results: The study included 290 patients, 259 males and 31 females with age range of 29 - 83 years, the majority of the studied cases were Current smoking but only 22.5% was exsmoker. Mean FEV1% pred. Post-bronchodilator was 75.9 ± 16.9 in outpatients and mean FEV1% pred. Post - bronchodilator was 52.9 ± 13.4 in inpatient. The most common co morbidities in COPD patients were hypertension in 25% of cases. More than half of all studied cases had complications and the most frequent complication was Cor-pulmonale and respiratory Failure. In this study, Severity of COPD according to GOLD 2017 was 27.8% in mild stage, 34.2% in moderate stage, 35.8% in severe stage and 2.5% in very severe stage. Conclusion: Spirometry had a great role in diagnosis of COPD and its differential diagnosis from asthma. Smoking is the major risk factors in developing COPD and this reflects on the disease occurrence and severity. Some of COPD patients refuse to use inhalers due to fear of addiction and incorrect method in using it. Inhaler steroids were preferred due to fear of systemic complications of steroids. There is great defect in vaccination and trials of quitting smoking as a non-pharmacological treatment for COPD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]