Conflict in Standards – Gold Differs by 11% in COPD Diagnosis

Until now, I thought the GOLD Standard was the only COPD Standard available…not so.  The American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society differs from the GOLD Standard by 11% according to researchers at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York.

Read on for the conflict which may explain the remarkable feats of some older folks diagnosed with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)

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“Conflicting Standards May Lead to Overdiagnosis or Underdiagnosis of COPD

(#1118428, Sunday, October 23, 4:45 PM Eastern)

Researchers from The Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York documented the diagnosis, stratification, and treatment discordance between the most widely accepted Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) standards and the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society (ATS/ERS) standards for COPD. After reviewing the pulmonary function reports of 217 patients with the clinical diagnosis of COPD, researchers found the rate of discordance was 11%, while four patients with a median age of 41 years met the ATS standards but not the GOLD standards. The conflicting diagnostic criteria, severity classification, and treatment recommendations create a dilemma in patient care, especially in patients with borderline diagnostic criteria and overlapping classifications of severity. Without this consensus, older patients may be overdiagnosed with COPD and younger patients underdiagnosed with COPD.”

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/acoc-c2e_3101411.php

Thanks for reading… Sharon O’Hara