Hospitalizations for COPD Exacerbations: Trends and Determinants of Death.

Objectives: to understand epidemiological trends in severe COPD exacerbations through analyzes of hospitalizations and deaths during three consecutive years in a French administrative region area.

Methods: Medico-administrative records of hospitalizations for COPD exacerbations were sorted from 2010 to 2012 using selected International Classification of Diseases (ICD10) codes. Four groups of hospitalization for COPD severe exacerbations were elicited leading to hospitalizations (general ward without respiratory failure, general ward with acute respiratory distress, ICU without mechanical ventilation, ICU with mechanical ventilation).