Compared with men, women with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have reduced respiratory-specific and general quality of life (QoL) and are more likely to be symptomatic, according to a study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2019 International Conference, held from May 17 to 22 in Dallas.

Allison Lambert, M.D., from the University of Washington in Spokane, and colleagues examined the correlation between sex and COPD morbidity using data from the prospective Subpopulations and Intermediate Outcome Measures in COPD study. Forty-two percent of the 1,832 participants were women.

The researchers found that the age, smoking status, race, and forced expiratory volume in one second percent predicted were similar for women and men; however, women reported fewer smoking pack-years. Female gender was independently associated with greater respiratory-specific QoL impairment, greater general QoL impairment, and reduced six-minute walk distance in adjusted analyses. Women also had elevated odds of hypoxemia with the six-minute walk test; greater odds of being symptomatic, defined by a modified Medical Research Council score ≥2 and COPD Assessment Test ≥10; and higher odds of experiencing frequent acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) and severe AECOPD in the previous year (odds ratios, 1.89, 1.63, 1.60, 1.75, and 1.25, respectively).

"Our preliminary results, representative of the data available at the time of analysis, add to existing literature by quantifying the extent of COPD morbidity among women and inform our next steps to characterize the role of hormonal factors," the authors write.

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