Factors Predicting Worse Outcomes in an Asian Cohort of Patients With Bronchiectasis

Background/Aim: Bronchiectasis has long been neglected, unlike chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Recent clinical trials have shown that long-term use of azithromycin or erythromycin reduce exacerbations of non-cystic fibrosis (non-CF) bronchiectasis. Because of this, we should actively try to treat patients susceptible to severe status. Patients and Methods: We enrolled patients who had been diagnosed with bronchiectasis at five branches of the Catholic Medical Center between January 2015 to December 2017. We retrospectively analyzed these patients for demographic characteristics such as sex, age, body mass index (BMI), history of smoking and tuberculosis, bacterial colonization, pulmonary function, hospitalizations, and other exacerbations. Results: Colonization was shown to have a statistically significant association with hospitalization. A three-year follow up period showed that the mean frequency of hospitalization in patients without colonization was 0.8 times, compared to 0.7 times and 1.9 times, respectively in patients with NTM colonization and with other bacterial colonization (p-value=0.03). Patients with a lower BMI also had an increased risk of hospitalization (p-value=0.024). Current smokers had increased risk of mortality as compared to those who had never smoked (HR=11.29, p-value 0.015). Patients with a high BMI also had low risk of mortality as compared to patients with a low BMI (HR=0.76, p-value 0.005). Conclusion: Patients with bronchiectasis having chronic colonization, low BMI, or who are current smokers tend to be at greater risk for severe illness. Therefore, physicians should actively treat these patients to prevent exacerbations and mortality.