Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease accompanying stroke: A multicenter investigation of 4960 patients in Beijing

Objective To study the correlation of prevalence and distribution in patients with stroke due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) over the past 10 years with their age and gender. Methods Patients with stroke due to COPD admitted to Chinese PLA General Hospital, PUMC Hospital and Beijing Hospital from January 2000 to March 2010 were investigated according to the medical records databases. Results Of the 46701 patients included in this study, 4960 (10.62%) suffered from COPD.Of these 4960 COPD patients (592 males and 216 females with an average age of 70.2±11.1 years, 808 (16.29%) were complicated with stroke.The prevalence of COPD was higher in male patients than in female patients and increased with their age.The prevalence of COPD was 1.81%, 4.25%, 7.97%, 22.49% and 41% respectively in the patients with their age< 50, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79 and ≥80 years.The risk of stroke was signif icantly higher in COPD patients than in non-COPD patients (HR=2.97, 95% CI:2.59%-3.40%).No signif icant difference was observed in the prevalence of stroke among male and female COPD patients(P=0.372).However, a signif icant difference was found in the prevalence of stroke among COPD and non-COPD patients at different ages (P< 0.01). Conclusion COPD is one of the important risk factor for the occurrence and development of stroke.