- New Ottawa chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) Risk Scale is a 10-point assessment tool that accurately identifies those patients with sudden COPD aggravations who are at risk of serious complications including death
- The tool will enable emergency room doctors to make better decisions regarding whether a given patient needs hospital admission or can be safely sent home
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of chronic lung conditions caused by smoking marked by shortness of breath that gradually worsens with time
Before the availability of the tool, it was difficult for doctors to accurately identify if a COPD patient with a sudden worsening of symptoms would have serious complications requiring admission or could be safely sent home.
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Validating the Ottawa Risk Assessment Tool
The study was conducted across six hospitals in Alberta and Ontario on 1415 patients with COPD aged 50 years and above, who presented to the emergency roomwith sudden worsening of their symptoms. The doctors used the 10-point Ottawa COPD Risk Scale to identify patients who were at risk of serious complications including death.The findings were as follows:
- The 10-point tool rightly identified 135 patients (9.5%) who were at risk for serious
- complications from their COPD
- However, among 779 patients not admitted to hospital, 65 patients (8.3%) were found to be at increased risk of serious complications as well
What is the 10-Point Ottawa COPD Risk Scale?
The 10-point Ottawa COPD Risk Scale was developed by Dr Ian Stiell, professor and renowned physician in the Ottawa Hospital and father of clinical decision rules who has enabled better patient care and outcomes. Among other rules, he has also developed the Ottawa Ankle Rules and the Canadian C-Spine Rule which is available as a smart phone App.After analyzing nearly 20 clinical and laboratory parameters that could predict risk, the 10-point Ottawa COPD Risk Prediction tool was developed that included five parameters from patient’s history, clinical examination and laboratory tests. These include:
- History of previous intubation
- Too sick to do a walk test
- Heart 110/ min or more
- Hemoglobin < 100 g/l
- Urea > 12 mmol/l
Scope of Study
- Following clinical validation in this study, the tool can now be used to make decisions regarding admission or discharge of COPD patients
- The tool can be easily used by family physicians, general practitioners, general and chest physicians as well as emergency room physicians
Reference:
- Clinical validation of a risk scale for serious outcomes among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease managed in the emergency department - (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.180232)
Source-Medindia