Energy-Boosting Foods for COPD Slideshow Bronchitis Slideshow Pictures Worst Smog Cities in America Slideshow

Outlook

For people with mild COPD, the prognosis is favorable. More severe cases of COPD suggest a worse prognosis. Of those people who are admitted to the ICU with an acute exacerbation, the death rate is 24%. This rate doubles for people aged 65 years or older. The predictors of death due to COPD are as follows:

• Aging
  
  
• Continued smoking
  
  
• Accelerated decline in FEV₁
  
  
• Moderate-to-severe airflow obstruction
  
  
• Poor bronchodilator response
  
  
• Severe hypoxemia
  
  
• Presence of hypercapnia (increased arterial carbon dioxide tension)
  
• Development of cor pulmonale (right-sided heart failure)
  
  
• Overall poor functional capacity