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Purpose: Emergency room (ER) physicians must deal with patients with clinically suspected symptoms, such as dyspnea, cough, and increased sputum production, on the frontlines of medical care if patients present with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study aims to investigate the longitudinal tendencies of COPD-related ER visits., Patients and Methods: A total of 360,313 patients were included in this study. The COPD-related ER visit rates between 2001 and 2015 were categorized using the International Classification of Disease (ICD) codes (496). The effects of age, period, and cohort on COPD-related ER visit rates were determined using an age-period-cohort (APC) model., Results: Age was associated with a high risk of COPD in the pediatric and older populations. A significant increase was observed in the period effect, from 2001 to 2015. The cohort effect tended to oscillate from 1918 to 1973, and was reversed in the latest cohort. Furthermore, the COPD-related ER visit rate increased between 2001 and 2015 in both men and women., Conclusion: Age, period, and cohort were observed to increase COPD visit rates. The APC model can be used to determine trends in COPD-related ER visits., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: I-Shiang Tzeng reports a relationship with Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by airway inflammation, airflow limitation, reduced health-related quality of life (HRQL), and exercise intolerance. Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is essential for COPD management, but outcomes may be influenced by individual physiological factors. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) measures oxygen pulse (O2P), an indicator of stroke volume, yet the impact of baseline O2P on PR effectiveness remains unclear., Methods: This retrospective study included 97 participants with COPD who had received PR, of whom 48 were classified as Group 1 (normal O2P) and 49 as Group 2 (low O2P). PR involved 12 weeks of hospital-based endurance training on a bike, performed twice a week. Participants were assessed before and after PR using spirometry, respiratory muscle strength measurements, CPET, and HRQL evaluation with the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ)., Results: PR significantly improved exercise capacity (peak work rate and oxygen consumption), dyspnea score, and all domains of the SGRQ, maximum expiratory pressure, ventilatory equivalent, respiratory rate, and mean blood pressure at rest in both groups (p < 0.05). However, improvements in O2P, maximal inspiratory pressure, and tidal volume at rest were observed only in Group 2 but not in Group 1., Conclusion: PR improves exercise capacity, HRQL and specific respiratory function in participants with COPD, regardless of baseline O2P levels. Individuals with lower baseline O2P experience more benefits from PR, including a significant increase in O2P., Competing Interests: All authors have no financial or other potential conflicts of interest to declare., (© 2025 Huang et al.)