6533b7d8fe1ef96bd126a23f

RESEARCH PRODUCT

OSACO: an observational study in asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS)

subject

description

Background: ACOS describes the co-occurrence of asthma and COPD, although its prevalence and clinical features remain poorly characterized. Aims: To better understand the prevalence and characteristics of ACOS. Methods: An observational study is being performed in subjects with bronchial obstruction at 3 Italian centers. In the first phase, consecutive patients ≥40 years with documented bronchial obstruction are being recruited; eligible patients will enter the second phase, consisting of imaging, functional and clinical evaluation with the MRC dyspnea scale, St. George9s respiratory questionnaire index, Charlson index, and skin prick test. Main inclusion criteria for the evaluation phase are fixed airway obstruction, history of respiratory allergy or asthma, current or past smoking, and a score from 6 to 8 on the Beeh questionnaire. Results: To date, 174 patients have been enrolled. In this interim analysis, 13% had a diagnosis of asthma, 49% COPD, and 37% ACOS. Results are reported in the table. In the COPD group, mean age and the proportion of males was significantly higher than in the ACOS group (*p Conclusions: Preliminary data indicate that among patients with bronchial obstruction, more than 1/3 have features of ACOS. The final analysis will allow full description of the clinical and functional characteristics of patients with ACOS.