Length of stay and comorbidity prevalence among individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a tertiary care healthcare center in Saudi Arabia; A cross-sectional study

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of mortality, morbidity, and high healthcare costs. While previous studies have addressed the burden of COPD at the national level, there is a lack of current data examining the prevalence of COPD with comorbidities as a predictor for hospital length of stay (LOS). This study aimed to investigate the average LOS and its predictors among patients with COPD admitted to a tertiary healthcare center. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care healthcare center in Saudi Arabia between 2017 and 2022. Adult patients with a primary COPD diagnosis admitted at least once to the medical department during the study period were identified. Data on the demographics and co-existing comorbidities were extracted from the electronic medical records of each patient. The main outcome was the LOS among admitted patients. Linear regression analysis was conducted to examine COPD predictors among the demographic and clinical variables. This study involved 629 patients diagnosed with COPD, primarily females, with a mean age of 74 years. The median length of hospital stay was 5 days, and hypertension was the most common comorbidity among the participants (78.8%). The hospital LOS of male patients was expected to be 1.30 days longer than that of female patients (95% confidence interval, 0.15-2.77), and the hospital LOS of patients with cancer was expected to be 3 days longer than that of patients without cancer (B coefficient, 2.73; 95% confidence interval, 0.78-5.37). Male sex and cancer were strong predictors of prolonged hospitalization among patients with COPD. These findings highlight the need for healthcare providers to observe the presence of these comorbidities when managing COPD in patients to reduce their hospital stay.