According to research in Medical Sciences, patients with both bronchiectasis and COPD experience more frequent and longer exacerbations than patients with COPD only.
According to some studies, up to 50% of patients with moderate to severe COPD also have bronchiectasis, and these patients are known to have more severe symptoms and increased mortality.
Researchers followed 54 COPD patients for one year (27 patients had both bronchiectasis and COPD, and the remaining 27 COPD-only).
Patients with both conditions had a significantly higher mean number of exacerbations over a year compared to COPD-only patients (2.9 times vs. 2.5 times, respectively). Also, the duration of exacerbations (number of days before symptoms completely improved) was significantly longer in COPD-bronchiectasis patients compared to COPD patients (about 6.9 days compared to around 5.7 days, respectively).
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