Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) consists of a particular group of diseases characterised by irreversibility and progressive limitation to the airflow. It is one of the known major causative factors for chronic morbidity and mortality all around the world. It mainly affects the lungs but extra pulmonary systemic manifestations are also important features of this disease like weight loss. Aims and Objectives: To compare, correlate, analyse and find association between the stages of

more »

... PD with BMI, saturation levels and also the serum calcium levels. Subjects and Methods: It's a prospective study conducted in tertiary care hospital setup on 100 COPD patients who were clinically diagnosed and also staged as per the guidelines of global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease (GOLD). It was correlated with SpO2, BMI and Serum Calcium levels. Pulse oximeter was used to measure SpO2. The categorization of BMI was done as per the new classification for Asian Indians (2009). Basic metabolic panel test was done to measure serum calcium levels. Analysis ToolPak of Microsoft Excel was used for data and bio statistical analysis. Chi-square test was also done to find out the association between each of the important factors considered and the disease under this study. Results: Out of 100 COPD patients, 60% belonged to extremes of BMI (obese and undernourished). The prevalence of extreme BMI was 22%, 38% in stage I+II, stage III+ IV respectively; statistically significant (P= 0.0402). The prevalence of severe hypocalcaemia (Ca<7.5) was 1%,14% in stage I+II, stage III+ IV respectively; statistically significant (P= 0.0012). The prevalence of SpO2<95% was 22%, 38% in stage I+II, stage III+ IV respectively; statistically significant (P= 0.0012). Conclusion: The study showed statistically significant association between BMI, Saturation Levels and Serum Calcium Levels when compared with the initial and later stages of COPD. With increasing severity of COPD stage, the mean serum calcium values decreased in progressive manner.