Factors related to mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Colombian population

Introduction. Data in low- and middle-income countries on mortality and its related risk factors in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are limited. Objective. To identify the incidence of death and its relationship with variables in a Colombian population during 12 months of follow-up. Materials and methods. We carried out a retrospective study in subjects diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a third-level hospital in Colombia. Odds ratios were calculated using multivariable logistic regression analysis with the outcome variable “mortality at 12 months”. Results. We included 524 patients, 18.1% (95 / 524) died. The average age was 69.7 (SD = 8.92), and 59.2% (310 / 524) were women. The variables associated with mortality were age (OR = 6.54; 95% CI = 3.65-11.36; p < 0.001), years of exposure to wood smoke (OR = 4.59; 95% CI = 1.64-2.82; p = 0.002), chronic heart failure (OR = 1.81; 95% CI = 1.13-2.91; p = 0.014), cerebrovascular disease (OR = 3.35; 95% CI = 1.04-10.75; p = 0.032), and chronic kidney disease (OR = 6.96; 95% CI = 1.15-41.67; p=0.015). When adjusting the variables in the multivariate analysis, only an association was found for sex (OR = 1.55; 95% CI = 0.95-2.54; p = 0.008) and age (OR = 5.94; 95% CI = 3.3-10.69; p < 0.001). Conclusion. Age, years of exposure to wood smoke, chronic heart failure, and cerebrovascular and chronic kidney disease were the clinical variables associated with a fatal outcome. However, age and sex were the only variables related to mortality when adjusted for confounding factors.