• Luis Fernando Casas Méndez, Concepción Montón Soler, Marisa Baré Mañas, Jordi Casabon Salas, Xavier Pomares Amigó, and Urko Aguirre Larracoechea.
• Servicio de Neumología, Hospital de Sabadell, Corporació Sanitària i Universitària Parc Taulí, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Sabadell, España. lcasas@tauli.cat
• Med Clin Barcelona. 2011 May 28;136(15):665-8.

Background And ObjectiveAcute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AE-COPD) are considered to be the most important factor in determining the course of the disease, and have great impact on the health care system. We evaluated the effects of a Respiratory Day Hospital (RDH) on the rate of hospital admissions due to AE-COPD.Patients And MethodsDuring 14 months, every case of AE-COPD seen at the RDH and emergency services was recruited prospectively. Patients were excluded when another known cause of exacerbation was present and/or when they required invasive mechanical ventilation.Results226 episodes (173 patients) were included (72, SD 8 years old). One hundred and twenty one cases received treatment at the RDH (53.5%). Admissions from the RDH group were noticeably lower (32.2 vs. 66.7%, p<0.001), even in patients with more admissions due to AE-COPD the year before the study. There were no differences either in terms of AE-COPD severity or in readmissions and mortality rates during the follow up.ConclusionsManagement of AE-COPD in a RDH seems to be associated with a lower rate of hospital admissions in comparison with an emergency department.Copyright © 2010 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

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