Gender and economic aspects of COPD in a Swedish cohort: The ARCTIC study

Background: Prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in women is increasing and the disease may present with a different course of progression and comorbidity pattern compared to men. Objective: To assess gender differences in exacerbations, prevalence of comorbidities and health related costs in COPD patients treated with standard of care. Methods: Electronic medical record data collected from COPD patients in 52 Swedish primary care centres were linked to patient socio-economics, prescriptions and hospital care data from mandatory national registries between 2000 and 2014. Outcomes were analysed 2 years after COPD diagnosis. Results: 17,479 COPD patients (mean age: 65.01 yrs; women: 54.4%) were analysed. Time to first exacerbation analysis showed a 12% higher risk for women compared to men (HR 1.12; p Conclusion: Women with COPD have more exacerbations and are more likely to have osteoporosis than men. However, HCRU costs were slightly higher for men than women and the largest differences were driven by non-COPD related hospitalisations.