Differences in the severity of symptoms in people with COPD may point to specific criteria for diagnosing cardiac comorbidities in each gender, a study suggests.
Among 2046 patients in the German COSYCONET (COPD and Systemic Consequences-Comorbidities Net) cohort, most functional parameters and comorbidities and several items on the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) differed significantly between men and women.
“[Sex]-specific differences in COPD comprised not only differences in the level of symptoms, comorbidities, and functional alterations but also differences in their mutual relationships. This was reflected in different sets of predictors for cardiac disease,” they wrote in a thematic poster presented during the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2021 International Conference.
The investigators conducted an analysis of data on 795 women and 1251 men with GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) class 1-3 disease from the COSYCONET COPD cohort.
