Characterization of bronchiectasis in the elderly

• Published in: Respiratory medicine 2016-10, Vol.119, p.13-19
• Main Authors: Bellelli, Giuseppe, Chalmers, James D, Sotgiu, Giovanni, Dore, Simone, McDonnell, Melissa J, Goeminne, Pieter C, Dimakou, Katerina, Skrbic, Dusan, Lombi, Andrea, Pane, Federico, Obradovic, Dusanka, Fardon, Thomas C, Rutherford, Robert M, Pesci, Alberto, Aliberti, Stefano
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Bacterial infections; Bronchiectasis - diagnostic imaging; Bronchiectasis - epidemiology; Bronchiectasis - microbiology; Bronchiectasis - physiopathology; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Comorbidity; COPD; Cystic fibrosis; Female; Forced Expiratory Volume - physiology; Frailty; Hospitalization; Humans; Infections; Male; Middle Aged; Mortality; Mortality - trends; Older people; Outcome Assessment (Health Care); Prevalence; Prospective Studies; Pseudomonas; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas aeruginosa - isolation & purification; Pseudomonas Infections - complications; Pseudomonas Infections - epidemiology; Pulmonary/Respiratory; Quality of Life; Respiratory Function Tests - methods; Severity of Illness Index; Studies; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - methods
• ISSN: 0954-6111; 1532-3064
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rmed.2016.08.008

Abstract Introduction Although bronchiectasis particularly affects people ≥65 years of age, data describing clinical characteristics of the disease in this population are lacking. This study aimed at evaluating bronchiectasis features in older adults and elderly, along with their clinical outcomes. Methods This was a secondary analysis of six European databases of prospectively enrolled adult outpatients with bronchiectasis. Bronchiectasis characteristics were compared across three study groups: younger adults (18–65 years), older adults (66–75 years), and elderly (and ≥76 years). 3-year mortality was the primary study outcome. Results Among 1258 patients enrolled (median age: 66 years; 42.5% males), 50.9% were ≥65 years and 19.1 ≥ 75 years old. Elderly patients were more comorbid, had worse quality of life and died more frequently than the others. Differences were detected among the three study groups with regard to neither the etiology nor the severity of bronchiectasis, nor the prevalence of chronic infection with P. aeruginosa . In multivariate regression model, age (OR: 1.05; p-value: