Pulmonary Disorders: COPD

Asthma/COPD Syndrome

An increasing interest in defining subtypes (phenotypes) of COPD as they relate to treatment response, disease progression, and symptom complexes has led to the specification of the asthma-COPD phenotype or syndrome. Several studies have reported on this syndrome, though the prevalence has varied significantly, depending on the criteria used in the various studies. Overlap between the disorders has been reported to be up to 55%. The important issue in relation to LEOs is that the asthma/COPD overlap is more common in persons with mild COPD and is linked with a worse outcome in at least one study.26 Additionally, this dual disorder phenomenon brings up the issue that a number of persons with asthma will, eventually, also meet criteria for COPD.

NOTE TO POLICE PHYSICIAN: The following form has been developed to help expedite gathering the most cogent information for police physicians to make clearance decisions. Since many treating providers may not be willing to spend the time to fill out a form, it may be easier to simply request medical records. In that case the following form may be used as a template for extracting the relevant information from the medical records.