TY - JOUR
T1 - Natural histories of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
AU - Rennard, Stephen I
AU - Vestbo, Jørgen
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - Concepts relating to the natural history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) arise most importantly from the classic study of Fletcher and colleagues (The Natural History of Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema, Oxford University Press, New York, 1976). This study, which evaluated working English men over 8 years, was used to construct a proposed life-long natural history. Although this is a classic study that has greatly advanced understanding of COPD, it has a number of limitations. Its duration is relatively short compared with the duration of COPD, so it is more cross-sectional than longitudinal. It was unable to distinguish among varied "natural histories." It assessed primarily the FEV(1), and the natural history of other features of COPD is largely undescribed. With advances in understanding the clinical features of COPD and with the development of evaluating new tools to assess patients with COPD, longitudinal studies evaluating COPD in novel ways and for longer durations are needed.
AB - Concepts relating to the natural history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) arise most importantly from the classic study of Fletcher and colleagues (The Natural History of Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema, Oxford University Press, New York, 1976). This study, which evaluated working English men over 8 years, was used to construct a proposed life-long natural history. Although this is a classic study that has greatly advanced understanding of COPD, it has a number of limitations. Its duration is relatively short compared with the duration of COPD, so it is more cross-sectional than longitudinal. It was unable to distinguish among varied "natural histories." It assessed primarily the FEV(1), and the natural history of other features of COPD is largely undescribed. With advances in understanding the clinical features of COPD and with the development of evaluating new tools to assess patients with COPD, longitudinal studies evaluating COPD in novel ways and for longer durations are needed.
U2 - 10.1513/pats.200804-035QC
DO - 10.1513/pats.200804-035QC
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 19056710
SN - 1546-3222
VL - 5
SP - 878
EP - 883
JO - American Thoracic Society. Proceedings
JF - American Thoracic Society. Proceedings
IS - 9
ER -