Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and malnutrition: severity of the disease and controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score

Aims: The definition for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is abnormalities of the or alveoli, that can cause chronic respiratory symptoms. A significant number of COPD patients have malnutrition. We aimed to demonstrate the correlation between the Control of Nutritional Status (CONUT) score and the severity of the disease, the number of hospitalizations, and emergency department visits due to acute exacerbations of COPD. Methods: Patients over 65 years of age diagnosed with COPD were included in this study. Smoking habits, systemic and pulmonary comorbidities, Modified British Medical Research Council (mMRC) survey score and COPD assessment test (CAT) score, number of COPD exacerbations, number of hospitalizations due to COPD in the last year were recorded. CONUT score was calculated by looking at blood albumin, total cholesterol and lymphocyte levels. Results: This study was carried out with 112 COPD patients. The mean age of our patients was 72.28±7.3 (64-96). Of the 112 patients, 26 (23.2%) were female and 86 (76.8%) were male. Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1%) was 42.31% (13.00-75.00%), CAT 17.83±6.8 (7-34), mMRC 2.19±1.1 (0-4), COPD attack count 2.30±2.1 (0-9) and 35 patients were hospitalized due to COPD attacks. The CONUT score determined as 2.71±2.3 (0-9), 45 (40.1%) patients were normal, 36 (32.1%) were light, 29 (25.9%) were moderate, and 2 (1.8%) patients were severe. There was a statistically significant, correlation between CONUT values and FEV1 (%), CAT and mMRC values. The patients were divided into 2 groups as low (values 4 and below) and high (values 5 and above). A statistically significant difference was found between the CONUTs high and low groups in terms of CAT, mMRC and FEV 1 (%). The number of high CONUT attacks was statistically significantly higher than the number of low CONUT attacks. High CONUTs hospitalization rates are significantly higher than low CONUTs hospitalization rates. Conclusion: The CONUT score is accepted as a promising tool for the assessment of malnutrition. In our study, CONUT scores were high in COPD patients over 65 years of age with low FEV1%, high CAT and high mMRC values. This high level suggests that the CONUT score may be a new prognostic predictor. And again, we found that the CONUT score was associated with a high number of attacks and hospitalizations. These results suggest that the use of the CONUT score may help adapt patients’ follow-up and treatment strategies.