2017 GOLD Guidelines for Diagnosing and Managing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Revised guidelines emphasize symptoms and exacerbation frequency to guide treatment choices.

Sponsoring Organization: Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD)

Target Audience: Clinicians who treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Background

The World Health Organization (WHO) and NIH convened the original GOLD expert panel in 1998 to make recommendations for managing COPD. Since the release of its first guidelines in 2001, GOLD has published several revisions, most recently in 2014.

Key Points

Measurement of airflow limitation (by forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV₁]) is recommended mainly to confirm diagnosis and establish prognosis, but not to guide treatment. Instead, two clinical parameters — symptom assessment and exacerbation history — are used to categorize patients into four…

Reviewing Author

Patricia Kritek, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsATS Scholar