Evaluation of Different Outcome Measures in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease(COPD) Treatment: A 9-Months Case Serieus Study

Objectives: Comparative assessment of some outcome measures in patients with COPD receiving the recommended therapy. Methods: Twenty three COPD patients (divided into 2 groups by COPD severity) were treated and strictly supervised and followed-up for 9 months period, while variable outcome measures (physiologic, symptomatic, biological) were used to evaluate their state. Results: Patients in both groups reported symptomatic improvement, their neutrophilic count markedly decreased, however, the pulmonary function tests were of limited values in showing patients improvement. Conclusion: Evidence from this study supports the idea that management of COPD require considerations of multiple outcome measures and that FEV1 is good in diagnosis and assessing disease severity but not reliable in patients followup.