Acute Exacerbation According to GOLD 2017 Categories in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

The GOLD 2017 classification was not different from GOLD grade and GOLD 2011 regarding the association with future exacerbation risk, and there were no significant differences in exacerbation risk according to FEV1%. This suggests that FEV1 might not be an important factor in future exacerbation risk. These results partly support the GOLD 2017 assessment tool.