Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the top three causes of death worldwide, and 90% of deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD) is defined as an acute change in patient's dyspnea, cough, or sputum beyond normal variability that is sufficient to warrant a change in therapy. AECOPD has a negative effect on the quality of life, admission and readmission rates, and disease progression.
For these reasons, appropriate management of acute exacerbations is recommended by national and international organizations.
Identifying high-risk dying patients on hospital admission helps in triaging them to the required level of care.
The use of early warning scores in follow-up is recommended for the early detection of critically ill patients and the prediction of clinical deterioration. CURB65, BAP65, qSOFA , DECAF and NEWS, which mainly involve mental status, respiratory rate, oxygen saturations, pulse, blood pressure, age, BUN level, etc., can be used to predict AECOPD-associated mortality in ED given the simple structure and data availability.
