Evaluating the disease and treatment information provided to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the time of discharge according to GOLD discharge guidelines.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the disease and treatment information provided to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at hospital discharge.

METHODS:

This was a cross-sectional study including hospitalized patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at three tertiary hospitals. The study was based on seven items of the Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) discharge guidelines. Two hospitals in this study had a Medical Residency Program in Pulmonology, and one did not have the program.

RESULTS:

Fifty-four patients were evaluated. Large amounts of information were provided concerning effective pharmacological maintenance (item 1), blood gas evaluation/measurement of oxygen saturation (item 2), assessment of inhalation technique (item 4), and maintenance therapy (item 5). Less information was provided regarding comorbidity management planning (item 3), the completion of antibiotic/corticosteroid therapy (item 6) and follow-up with the attending physician or specialist (item 7) had less information. We observed significant differences between hospitals for items 1, 4 and 7, and better performance in hospitals with medical residency in pulmonology.

CONCLUSION:

Hospitalized patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease received little to no information about the seven items addressed by GOLD discharge guidelines. This finding suggests that these guidelines should be used more often by clinicians in hospital with or without medical residency in pulmonology. The lack of specialized care resulted in insufficient amount of information for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at discharge.

• Authors: Letícia de Araújo Morais, Samylla Ysmarrane Ismail Eisha de Sousa Cavalcante, Marcus Barreto Conde, Marcelo Fouad Rabahi
• Journal: Einstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil) (Einstein (Sao Paulo)) Vol. 18 Pg. eAO4706 ( 2020) ISSN: 2317-6385 [Electronic] Brazil
• PMID: 31826076 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Humans
• Patient Discharge (standards)
• Practice Guidelines as Topic
• Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive (physiopathology, therapy)