Real life management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in general practice (GP) in Denmark

Background: Increased focus on COPD has evolved in Denmark because of higher incidence and mortality from COPD compared to other western countries - alongside growing evidence supporting early diagnosis and treatment as tools for achieving better prognosis. Objectives: This study was initiated to investigate the quality of real life management of COPD in a representative sample of Danish general practices in 2013. Main focus was to measure the fulfillment of 10 specific Quality-of care indicators by extracting relevant data from the patient medical records. Results: 82 GP-clinics participated in the study. Approximately half were solo-clinics and the rest comprised different forms of partnership clinics. Records of 1556 COPD patients (51.3% males, average age 70 years) were included. Table 1 shows the fulfillment of the 10 predefined indicators. Discussion: Improvemed adherence to COPD guidelines (both diagnosis and management) among GPs is of utmost importance in order to reduce the burden of COPD. However, this study shows that even in the GP-clinics, which volunteered to participate, there is still substantial room for improvement before an acceptable standard of quality of care is achieved.