Hospital Burden of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Hong Kong - The Trend from 2006 to 2014.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common cause for hospital admission. This study aims to review the hospital burden of COPD in Hong Kong (HK) and the trend from year 2006 to 2014. Methods: A multi-center, retrospective study of the characteristics of COPD patients discharged from the public hospitals of HK from year 2006 to 2014. Anonymized data retrieval and analysis were performed. The demographic data of the subjects, use of health-care resources, ventilatory support, medications used and mortality of the subjects were analyzed. Results: Total patient headcount (HC) and admission number reduced from 10,425 and 23,362 in year 2006 to 9613 and 19,771, respectively, in 2014. There was a progressive reduction of female COPD HC from 2193 (21%) in year 2006 to 1517 (16%) in 2014. The utilization of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) increased rapidly and peaked in 2010 (29%) and decreased thereafter. There was a rapid increase in the prescription of long-acting bronchodilators (from 15% to 64%). COPD and pneumonia were the top causes of death, but death due to pneumonia was rapidly increasing while death due to COPD was progressively decreasing over the period. Conclusion: COPD HC and admission number (particularly in female patients) decreased progressively from year 2006 to 2014. There was also a decreasing trend of severity of disease as reflected by lower NIV use (after year 2010) and lower mortality rate due to COPD. Reduced smoking prevalence and tuberculosis (TB) notification rate in the community in the past might have reduced the incidence and severity of COPD and the hospital burden of disease. We observed an increasing trend of mortality due to pneumonia in COPD patients. Appropriate and timely vaccination programs are recommended for COPD patients as in the general elderly population.

Convalescent plasma treatment reduced mortality in patients with severe pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus infection.

BACKGROUND: Experience from treating patients with Spanish influenza and influenza A(H5N1) suggested that convalescent plasma therapy might be beneficial. However, its efficacy in patients with severe pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009 virus (H1N1 2009) infection remained unknown. METHODS: During the period from 1 September 2009 through 30 June 2010, we conducted a prospective cohort study by recruiting patients aged ≥ 18 years with severe H1N1 2009 infection requiring intensive care. Patients were offered treatment with convalescent plasma with a neutralizing antibody titer of ≥ 1:160, harvested by apheresis from patients recovering from H1N1 2009 infection. Clinical outcome was compared with that of patients who declined plasma treatment as the untreated controls. RESULTS: Ninety-three patients with severe H1N1 2009 infection requiring intensive care were recruited. Twenty patients (21.5%) received plasma treatment. The treatment and control groups were matched by age, sex, and disease severity scores. Mortality in the treatment group was significantly lower than in the nontreatment group (20.0% vs 54.8%; P = .01). Multivariate analysis showed that plasma treatment reduced mortality (odds ratio [OR], .20; 95% confidence interval [CI], .06-.69; P = .011), whereas complication of acute renal failure was independently associated with death (OR, 3.79; 95% CI, 1.15-12.4; P = .028). Subgroup analysis of 44 patients with serial respiratory tract viral load and cytokine level demonstrated that plasma treatment was associated with significantly lower day 3, 5, and 7 viral load, compared with the control group (P < .05). The corresponding temporal levels of interleukin 6, interleukin 10, and tumor necrosis factor α (P < .05) were also lower in the treatment group. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of severe H1N1 2009 infection with convalescent plasma reduced respiratory tract viral load, serum cytokine response, and mortality.

The burden of lung disease in Hong Kong: a report from the Hong Kong Thoracic Society.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The burden of lung disease in Hong Kong is not known. This study determined the mortality and hospitalization rates of respiratory diseases in Hong Kong in 2005, their trend in the past decade and their incidence/prevalence. METHODS: Mortality data were obtained from the Department of Health and hospitalization data from the Hospital Authority, Hong Kong. Incidence/prevalence data were obtained from local registries or local studies. Trends of mortality and hospitalization rates of various respiratory diseases from 1997 and 2005 were calculated after age standardization and were tested for significance using negative binomial regression analysis. Age standardized mortality rates in Hong Kong were compared with those of the UK and globally. RESULTS: Respiratory disease was the most common cause of mortality and hospitalization in Hong Kong in 2005. Globally and in the UK, cardiovascular disease ranked first in mortality. Respiratory infections ranked first in respiratory mortality, followed by respiratory tract cancer and chronic obstructive lung disease. Respiratory infections also ranked first followed by chronic obstructive lung disease in the utilization of respiratory inpatient bed-days. While mortality rates from all respiratory diseases decreased in the past decade, hospitalization rates remained unchanged. Unlike other respiratory diseases, mortality from respiratory infections have increased since 2001. Smoking is the most important risk factor in non-communicable respiratory diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Respiratory disease is responsible for the highest health-care burden locally. Increased efforts in improving management and prevention of these diseases, including tobacco control, improving air quality and vaccination against influenza and pneumococci, are necessary.

Comorbidities, mortality, and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients who required admissions to public hospitals in Hong Kong - computerized data collection and analysis.

Background: COPD is a common cause for hospital admission. Conventional studies of the epidemiology of COPD involved large patient number and immense resources and were difficult to be repeated. The present study aimed at assessing the utilization of a computerized data management system in the collection and analysis of the epidemiological and clinical data of a large COPD cohort in Hong Kong (HK). Patients and methods: It was a computerized, multicenter, retrospective review of the characteristics of patients discharged from medical departments of the 16 participating hospitals with the primary discharge diagnosis of COPD in 1 year (2012). Comparison was made between the different subgroups in the use of medications, ventilatory support, and other health care resources. The mortality of the subjects in different subgroups was traced up to December 31, 2014. The top 10 causes of death were analyzed. Results: In total, 9,776 subjects (82.6% men, mean age = 78 years) were identified. Of the 1,918 subjects with lung function coding, 85 (4.4%), 488 (25.5%), 808 (42.1%), and 537 (28.0%) subjects had the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 1, 2, 3, and 4 classes, respectively. Patients with higher GOLD classes had higher number of hospital admissions, longer hospital stay, increased usage of noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIV), combinations of long-acting bronchodilators, and higher mortality. Of the 9,776 subjects, 2,278 (23.3%) received NIV, but invasive mechanical ventilation was uncommon (134 of 9,776 subjects [1.4%]); 4,427 (45.3%) subjects had died by the end of 2014. The top causes of death were COPD, pneumonia, lung cancer, and other malignancies. Conclusion: Patients admitted to hospitals for COPD in HK had significant comorbidities, mortality, and imposed heavy burden on health care resources. It is possible to collect and analyze data of a large COPD cohort through a computerized system. Suboptimal coding of lung function results was observed, and underutilization of long-acting bronchodilators was common.

Adherence to a COPD treatment guideline among patients in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to assess the adherence rate of pharmacological treatment to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guideline published in 2011 and the prevalence of comorbidities among patients with COPD in Hong Kong (HK). METHODS: Patients were recruited from five tertiary respiratory centers and followed up for 12 months. Data on baseline physiological, spirometric parameters, use of COPD medications and coexisting comorbidities were collected. The relationship between guideline adherence rate and subsequent COPD exacerbations was assessed. RESULTS: Altogether, 450 patients were recruited. The mean age was 73.7±8.5 years, and 92.2% of them were males. Approximately 95% of them were ever-smokers, and the mean post-bronchodilator (BD) forced expiratory volume in 1 second was 50.8%±21.7% predicted. The mean COPD Assessment Test and modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale were 13.2±8.1 and 2.1±1.0, respectively. In all, five (1.1%), 164 (36.4%), eight (1.8%) and 273 (60.7%) patients belonged to COPD groups A, B, C and D, respectively. The guideline adherence rate for pharmacological treatment ranged from 47.7% to 58.1% in the three clinic visits over 12 months, with overprescription of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and underutilization of long-acting BDs in group B COPD patients. Guideline nonadherence was not associated with increased risk of exacerbation after adjustment of confounding variables. However, this study was not powered to assess a difference in exacerbations. In all, 80.9% of patients had at least one comorbidity. CONCLUSION: A suboptimal adherence to GOLD guideline 2011, with overprescription of ICS, was identified. The commonly found comorbidities also aligned with the trend observed in other observational cohorts.