Predicting Length of Stay and Mortality in Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease at the Intensive Care Unit

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a worldwide public health challenge because it affects more than 5% of the population. Early identification of the patients at risk of severe disease or death gives the clinician the chance to initiate rapid and aggressive treatment, and thereby save lives. Methods: This was a single-center observational retrospective study. We included all patients aged [greater than or equal to] 40 years admitted to the respiratory intensive care unit with a diagnosis of acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) between January 2014 and December 2018. Co-morbidities, hemogram and biochemistry values, and inflammatory markers were evaluated in both survivor and non-survivor groups. Results were evluated with SPSS. Results: A total of 1,454 patients were assessed, 315 (21.6%) patients died during the hospital stay, and 1,139 (78.3%) patients were discharged. In the non-survivor group, mean white blood cell counts were higher than in survivors [14.1 (9.7-20.3), vs 11.8 (8.516.1), p