Loading...
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations are underreported by patients. To explore how people with COPD perceive and communicate their exacerbation experiences, investigators conducted an online survey of 850 patients in 6 countries. The survey included 28 questions (1 open-ended) asking participants to describe times when their COPD symptoms were worse than usual.
Most participants reported that recognizing exacerbations was “somewhat easy” or “very easy”; 10% reported that it was “not easy.” In the narrative question, patients described exacerbations by detailing overall experiences, often portraying strong emotions (e.g., “worried,” “frustrated”) rather than with objective signs of clinical deterioration, such as “exacer…