Prevalence and impact of diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases: A hospital-based cross-section study

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with important chronic comorbid diseases, including diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. As very limited data is available in India, the aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between COPD and the common, chronic comorbid conditions of diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN), and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and also to determine how these affect the clinical course of COPD. METHODS: All the COPD cohorts diagnosed as per Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease-2013 (GOLD-2013) criteria were screened for DM, HTN, and CVD as per stipulated national and WHO guidelines. RESULTS: The prevalence of DM, HTN, and CVD in the 2432 COPD subjects was 25.94%, 37.25%, and 13.93%, respectively. In multivariate analyses, very severe COPD was associated with a higher risk of DM (odds ratio [OR] 1.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-2), HTN (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.4-1.9), and CVD (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.9-3.0). CONCLUSION: A significant relationship was found between COPD and the presence of comorbid DM, HTN, and CVD. It was also found that subjects with advanced COPD were more likely to have at least two of these conditions and hugely affect the outcome of the disease. These findings suggest that the presence of COPD could provide a rationale to look for other comorbid disease and, conversely, that the presence of DM, HTN, or CVD might be the basis for the assessment of patients for airflow limitation and COPD as the tobacco smoking and advancing age were common risk factors.