GOLD 2021 Strategy Report: Implications for Asthma-COPD Overlap

Miguel Roman-Rodriguez; Alan Kaplan

doi:10.2147/COPD.S300902

GOLD 2021 Strategy Report: Implications for Asthma-COPD Overlap

Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2021 Jun 14:16:1709-1715. doi: 10.2147/COPD.S300902. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Miguel Roman-Rodriguez¹, Alan Kaplan²

Affiliations

¹ Primary Care Respiratory Research Unit, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Baleares (IdISBa), Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
² Family Physician Airways Group of Canada, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Abstract

In its 2021 strategy report, the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease states: "we no longer refer to asthma-COPD overlap (ACO), instead we emphasize that asthma and COPD are different disorders, although they may […] coexist in an individual patient. If a concurrent diagnosis of asthma is suspected, pharmacotherapy should primarily follow asthma guidelines, but pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches may also be needed for their COPD." What does this mean for the treating physician? In this review, we explore the implications of this new guidance on treating patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, arguing for a personalized approach to treatment.

Keywords: COPD; asthma; asthma–COPD overlap; bronchodilator; inhaled corticosteroid.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Asthma* / diagnosis
Asthma* / drug therapy
Asthma* / epidemiology
Humans
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* / diagnosis
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* / drug therapy
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* / epidemiology