• Juan P de Torres, Ciro Casanova, Angela Montejo de Garcini, Armando Aguirre Jaime, and Bartolomé R Celli.
• Respiratory Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra Sra de Candelaria, Tenerife, Spain. jupa65@hotmail.com
• Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2007 Jan 1;2(2):151-5.

BackgroundThe BODE index was recently validated as a multidimensional tool for the evaluation of patients with COPD. The influence of gender on the BODE index has not been studied.HypothesisThe contribution of each component of the disease to the BODE index may differ according to gender.MethodsWe evaluated age, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), Modified Medical Research Council (MMRC) score, 6-min walk distance (6MWD), and body mass index (BMI) in 52 men and 52 women with COPD and the same BODE index. We compared the studied parameters between men and women and then performed a multiple regression analysis by gender.ResultsWe found statistically significant differences between men and women in all parameters: FEV1 % (55 +/- 17 vs 63 +/- 18, p < 0.001), MMRC [1 (0-2) vs 1 (1-2) p = 0.03], BMI [28 (26-30) vs 25 (22-30), p = 0.05], and 6MWD [546 (451-592) vs 462 (419-520), p = 0.001]. Multiple regression analysis revealed that each component of the BODE index had different weight (beta standardized coefficient) in men and women respectively: FEV1% (0.74 vs 0.62), MMRC (0.31 vs 0.48), BMI (-0.09 vs -0.17), and 6MWD (0.13 vs 0.10).ConclusionsThe contribution of each component to the BODE index differs by gender in subjects with similar BODE scores. Long term longitudinal studies will help determine the significance of our findings.

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