Resting heart rate and exacerbations in COPD patients

Resting heart rate is a readily available data and has been shown to be associated with mortality in COPD. However, there is lack of data on its association with exacerbation. This is a multi-centre cohort study, 12-month follow up of patients recruited during acute exacerbation of COPD requiring hospitalisation from April 2012 till September 2015. Patient9s sociodemographic data, anthropometric indices and medications history were recorded at recruitment. Subjects were followed up in clinic at 3-month after the recruitment (Month-0). The resting heart rate, spirometry and CAT score were collected at baseline. Subsequently, patient was seen at Month-6 and Month-12 and followed up in between via telephone interview to collect data on exacerbation history. 147 patients were recruited with mean age of 66.76 ± 9.25 year. 76.9% had higher resting heart rate (> 80 bpm) with mean resting heart rate of 86.91 ± 13.01 bpm. Patients with higher resting heart rate had significantly higher proportion of exacerbators compared to those with lower resting heart rate at month-3 (54.4% vs. 26.9%, p=0.013). The trend was followed through until Month-9. There were statistically significant moderate strength linear correlation between resting heart rate and exacerbation frequency at month-3, month-6 and month-9 (r = 0.400, p Patients with higher resting heart rate following exacerbation demonstrated increased risk of exacerbation, with higher exacerbation frequency seen during 3, 6 and 9-month follow up.