Action plans for COPD: strategies to manage exacerbations and improve outcomes

Action plans for COPD: strategies to manage exacerbations and improve outcomes

COPD is the third-largest killer in the world, and certainly takes a toll on the health care system. Recurrent COPD exacerbations accelerate lung-function decline, worsen mortality, and consume over US$50 billion in health care spending annually. This has led to a tide of payment reforms eliciting interest in strategies reducing preventable COPD exacerbations. In this review, we analyze and dis...

Strategies for improving outcomes of COPD exacerbations

COPD is uniquely situated as a chronic disease at the beginning of the 21st century; it is not only an established major cause of mortality and morbidity but is increasing in prevalence despite current medical interventions. In addition COPD is not a stable disease but its natural history is punctuated by periods of acute deterioration or exacerbations. Exacerbations generate considerable addit...

Do Written Asthma Action Plans Improve Outcomes?

With appropriate management, children with asthma should expect few symptoms, no limits on activity, rare exacerbations, and normal lung function. Appropriate education of parents and other caregivers of children with asthma has clearly been shown to help achieve these goals. Although recommended in asthma guidelines, providing written asthma action plans does not improve outcomes beyond asthma...

Predicting outcomes following hospitalization for acute exacerbations of COPD.

Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) are a frequent cause of hospital admission and are associated with significant morbidity, mortality, high readmission rates and high resource utilization. More accurate prediction of survival and readmission in patients hospitalized with AECOPD should help to optimize clinical management and allocation of resources, including...

Conservation Strategies, Species Action Plans, and Translocation