Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Are the times changing?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most prevalent diseases and a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Spain. Currently, COPD is considered a treatable disease with an inflammatory origin that is frequently associated with other diseases. The prevalence of comorbidity is clearly increased in patients with COPD, irrespective of other confounding variables such as smoking.

[Clinical profile and treatment of elderly patients hospitalized for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Spanish Internal Medicine services. ECCO study].

Background And Objective: Hospitalizations for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) occur mostly in elderly patients. We describe the characteristics and treatment of elderly patients hospitalized for COPD in Internal Medicine Services, compared with the younger age group.

Patients And Methods: Observational, prospective, multicenter study.

[Identification of variables influencing waiting times for specialized care].

Objective: To identify the variables influencing waiting time for specialized care (waiting lists) through multiple regression analysis and to analyze the health districts with long waiting times according to these variables.

Design: Descriptive, cross sectional and retrospective study of waiting times for access to specialized care between 1997 and 1998.

Setting: Area 20 of the Health Department of the Autonomous Community of Valencia (Spain) consisting of 12 health districts with 204,424 inhabitants.

Clinical characteristics and response to newer quinolones in Legionella pneumonia: a report of 28 cases.

Twenty-eight (11.6%) out of 241 Spanish patients enrolled in an international phase III clinical trial of mild to moderate community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) comparing gemifloxacin vs. trovafloxacin were diagnosed of Legionnaires' disease.

[Descriptive epidemiology of ambulatory neurological care in the Vega Baja (Alicante) area].

Aims: The aim of our work is to analyse ambulatory neurological care in the area of Vega Baja, which is located in the province of Alicante (Spain), in order to find out: a) the demographic characteristics of the population that visits the neurologist; b) the motives that led to the visit; c) the diagnoses carried out.

Patients And Methods: A prospective two year study of patients over the age of 14 sent to the Neurology department. The reasons for the visit were classified into 15 categories and the diagnoses were given a code according to the criteria set out in the International Classification of Diseases 9th edition.