Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is increasingly recognized as a respiratory disease with an important systemic component. We explored the Medprax database containing data from Procardia cardiology ambulatory care in order to obtain rates of comorbidities in COPD patients. We identified 9,659 patients (4472men and 5187women) over 30 years, registered between 01.01.2000 and 01.02.2010. The overall prevalence of COPD was 5.17% (384men and 116women). Compared to non-COPD patients, COPD was found to be a significant risk factor in both sexes for cardiovascular events: ischemic heart disease (relative risk (RR)=1,8), atrial fibrillation (RR=2,3) and heart failure (RR=2,7). Association with diabetes mellitus type 2 was extremely significant (P<0.0001) in COPD men. Significant correlation with osteoporosis (RR=3.1) was found only in women. Lung cancer was found only in COPD men with an extremely significant prevalence (RR=4.9). Our results indicate that COPD is a risk factor for these comorbidities, with the exception of depressive disorders.
Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, osteoporosis, lung cancer