Effect of dyspnea on frailty stages and related factors in Taiwanese men with COPD

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic variables and disease characteristics of COPD patients (n=125)

Variable	Total (n=125, 100%)		Non-dyspnea group (n=61, 48.8%)		Dyspnea group (n=64, 51.2%)		P-value
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Age (years)a	77.36	10.26	72.15	10.84	78.42	8.70	<0.001d
Body mass index	23.07	3.63	23.24	3.25	22.91	3.97	0.62
CATa	13.97	9.83	8.18	6.45	19.48	9.35	<0.001d
Exacerbation (times/last year)a	0.64	0.71	0.48	0.79	0.80	0.60	<0.001d
Number of medications used	2.39	1.16	2.21	1.08	2.56	1.22	0.093
CES-Da	9.59	6.34	8.25	5.08	10.88	7.14	0.07
	Number of subjects	%	Number of subjects	%	Number of subjects	%
Educational attainment							0.04c
Middle school or below	71	56.80	29	47.50	42	65.60
High school or above	54	43.20	32	52.50	22	34.40
Monthly income (NT$)							0.19
≤16,304	79	63.20	35	57.40	44	68.80
≥16,305	46	36.80	26	42.60	20	31.30
Smoking status							0.48
Smoker	28	22.40	12	19.70	16	25.00
Non-smoker	97	77.60	49	80.30	48	75.00
Charlson Comorbidity Index							0.98
1	91	72.80	44	73.33	47	73.44
2	20	16.00	10	16.67	10	15.63
≥3	13	10.40	6	10	7	10.94
Lung function (FEV1 pred%)b							0.01c
Mild obstruction	24	19.20	9	14.80	15	23.40
Moderate obstruction	67	53.60	41	67.20	26	40.60
Severe or worse obstruction	34	27.20	11	18.00	23	36.00

Notes:

a Mann–Whitney U test;

b Lung function was used to stratify the severity of airway obstruction according to GOLD severity definition.

c P<0.05;

d P<0.001.

Abbreviations: CES-D, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale; FEV₁ pred%, predicted percentage for the forced expiratory volume during the first second; CAT, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test.

Table 2 Frailty stage of COPD patients with different degrees of dyspnea (n=124)

Variable	Non-dyspnea group (n=60, 48.39%)		Dyspnea group (n=64, 51.61%)		P-value
	Number of subjects	%	Number of subjects	%
Frailty evaluation results					<0.001a
Fit	44	73.30	9	14.10
Unfit	16	26.70	55	85.90

Note:

a P<0.001.

Table 3 Predictors of frailty in COPD patients: overall

Variable	Unfit vs fit (ref)
	OR	95% CI	P-value
Demographic characteristic
Age	1.07	(1.034–1.119)	<0.001c
Educational attainment
High school or above	0.45	(0.217–0.931)	0.031a
Middle school or below (ref)
Monthly income
≥16,305	0.63	(0.299–1.305)	0.211
≤16,304 (ref)
Smoking status
Ex-smoker	0.45	(0.182–1.129)	0.089
Smoker (ref)
Disease characteristics
Number of medications used	1.60	(1.141–2.250)	0.007b
CAT	1.21	(1.128–1.301)	<0.001c
Exacerbation	1.89	(1.031–3.459)	0.040a
Charlson Comorbidity Index
≥3	1.37	(0.417–4.512)	0.603
2	2.00	(0.706–5.512)	0.192
1 (ref)
Degree of respiratory tract obstruction
Severe or worse	1.39	(0.444–4.345)	0.572
Moderate	0.42	(0.157–1.107)	0.079
Mild (ref)
Depression	1.05	(0.988–1.116)	0.114

Notes: Univariate logistic regression (OR).

a P<0.05.

b P<0.01.

c P<0.001.

Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; ref, reference group; CAT, COPD Assessment Test.

Table 4 Predictors of frailty stage in men with COPD: non-dyspnea group (n=60)

Variable	Unfit vs fit (ref)
	Adjusted OR	95% CI	P-value
CAT	1.28	(1.093–1.486)	0.002a
Number of medications used	1.62	(0.780–3.367)	0.196
Acute exacerbation	0.49	(0.140–1.680)	0.254

Notes: Multivariate logistic regression – controlled for age, education attainment.

a P<0.01.

Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; ref, reference group; CAT, COPD Assessment Test.

Table 5 Predictors of frailty stage in men with COPD: dyspnea group (n=64)

Variable	Unfit vs fit (ref)
	Adjusted OR	95% CI	P-value
CAT	1.08	(0.972–1.199)	0.153
Number of medications used	2.35	(1.002–5.519)	0.050a
Acute exacerbation	2.55	(0.542–11.969)	0.237

Notes: Multivariate logistic regression – controlled for age, education attainment.

a P<0.05.

Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; ref, reference group; CAT, COPD Assessment Test.