Outpatient Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Management: Going for the GOLD

Christina R Bellinger; Stephen P Peters

doi:10.1016/j.jaip.2015.04.010

Outpatient Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Management: Going for the GOLD

J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2015 Jul-Aug;3(4):471-8; quiz 479-80. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2015.04.010.

Authors

Christina R Bellinger¹, Stephen P Peters²

Affiliations

¹ Wake Forest School of Medicine, Section on Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy & Immunologic Diseases, Winston-Salem, NC. Electronic address: cbelling@wakehealth.edu.
² Wake Forest School of Medicine, Section on Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy & Immunologic Diseases, Winston-Salem, NC.

PMID: 26164571
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaip.2015.04.010

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States with a burden of $50 billion in direct health care costs. The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) defines airflow obstruction as spirometry where the ratio of forced expiratory volume in the first second to forced vital capacity after bronchodilation is less than 0.70. The guidelines also provided graded recommendations on current therapy for COPD. Treatment can be guided based on severity of disease and severity of symptoms. We review the GOLD guidelines to provide an overview of treatment modalities aimed at improving lung function, reducing hospitalization, and reducing mortality.

Keywords: COPD; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; GOLD guidelines.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Outpatients
Palliative Care
Practice Guidelines as Topic
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / physiopathology
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / therapy*
Severity of Illness Index