Metabolic syndrome in hospitalized patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Introduction. The metabolic syndrome (MS) affects 21-53% of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with a higher prevalence in the early stages of COPD, with results being highly variable between studies. MS may also affect natural course of COPD-number of exacerbations, quality of life and lung function. Aim. To examine the prevalence of MS and its correlation with comorbidities and COPD characteristics in patients with COPD admitted for exacerbation. Material and methods. 152 patients with COPD admitted for exacerbation were studied for presence of MS. All of them were also assessed for vitamin D status and diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM). Data were gathered for smoking status and exacerbations during the last year. All patients completed CAT (COPD assessment test) and mMRC (Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea scale) questionnaires and underwent spirometry. Duration of current hospital stay was recorded. Results. 25% of patients have MS. 23.1% of the male and 29.5% of the female patients have MS (p > 0.05). The prevalence of MS in this study is significantly lower when compared to a national representative study (44.6% in subjects over 45 years). 69.1% of all patients and 97.4% from MS patients have arterial hypertension. The presence of MS is associated with significantly worse cough and sleep (1st and 7th CAT questions; p = 0.002 and p = 0.001 respectively) and higher total CAT score (p = 0.017). Average BMI is 27.31. None of the patients have MS and BMI