The Association Between the CALLY Index and All-Cause Mortality in Patients with COPD: Results from the Cohort Study of NHANES 2007-2010.

Purpose: The C-reactive protein (CRP)-albumin-lymphocyte (CALLY) index is a newly developed biomarker that combines measurements of CRP, serum albumin, and lymphocyte count. This index provides a thorough assessment of a patient's inflammation level, nutritional condition, and immunological function. The objective of this study is to examine the correlation between the CALLY index and all-cause mortality in COPD patients.
Methods: We calculated the CALLY index using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 cycles, extracted from the participants' peripheral blood samples. The study utilized Kaplan-Meier curves, restricted cubic spline (RCS) curves, and Cox regression analysis to evaluate the relationship between the CALLY index and the risk of all-cause mortality in COPD patients. To assess the predictive accuracy of the CALLY index, we calculated the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC).
Results: The study included 1,048 participants and found a significant negative correlation between the CALLY index and all-cause mortality in patients with COPD. The CALLY index was a major predictor of survival in COPD patients [fully adjusted model: in the 3rd quartile, HR = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.02-2.52, p = 0.039; in the 2nd quartile, HR = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.22-3.65, p = 0.008; in the 1st quartile, HR = 3.12, 95% CI: 2.00-4.85, p < 0.001]. The RCS curves demonstrated a non-linear association between the CALLY index and all-cause mortality in COPD patients. The areas under the curve (AUC) in predicting 5- and 10-year all-cause mortality were 0.693 and 0.656.
Conclusion: The CALLY index has a strong relationship with all-cause mortality in patients with COPD in the US and could serve as a prognostic biomarker for these patients.
Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.
(© 2025 Ding et al.)