A decision tree to assess short-term mortality after an emergency department visit for an exacerbation of COPD: a cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Creating an easy-to-use instrument to identify predictors of short-term (30/60-day) mortality after an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (eCOPD) could help clinicians choose specific measures of medical care to decrease mortality in these patients. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a classification and regression tree (CART) to predict short term mortality among patients evaluated in an emergency department (ED) for an eCOPD.

Methods

We conducted a prospective cohort study including participants from 16 hospitals in Spain. COPD patients with an exacerbation attending the emergency department (ED) of any of the hospitals between June 2008 and September 2010 were recruited. Patients were randomly divided into derivation (50%

SUBMITTER: Esteban C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4699373 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature