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Chaicharn Pothirat, Chalerm Liwsrisakun, Chaiwat Bumroongkit, Athavudh Deesomchok, Theerakorn Theerakittikul, Atikun Limsukon Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand Background: Care for many chronic health conditions is delivered by both specialists and generalists. Differences in patients’ quality of care and management between generalists and specialists have been well documented for asthma, whereas a few studies for COPD reported no differences. Objective: The objective of this study is to compare consistency with Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease guidelines, as well as rate, health care utilization, and hospital outcomes of severe acute exacerbation (AE) of COPD patients managed by pulmonologists and internists. Materials and methods: This is a 12-month prospective, comparative observational study among 208 COPD patients who were regularly managed by pulmonologists (Group A) and internists (Group B). Clinical data, health care utilization, and hospital outcomes of the two groups were statistically compared. Results: Out of 208 enrolled patients, 137 (Group A) and 71 (Group B) were managed by pulmonologists and internists, respectively. Pharmacological treatment corresponding to disease severity stages between the two groups was not statistically different. Group A received care consistent with guidelines in terms of annual influenza vaccination (31.4% vs 9.9%, P |
