The role of COPD scales (BAP-65, DECAF, DECAF-L) in predicting mortality and morbidity in patients diagnosed with COPD presenting to the emergency department

There are many COPD patients who apply to emergency departments with shortness of breath. We planned this study to demonstrate the roles of BAP-65, DECAF and DECAF-L scores in predicting morbidity and mortality in order to facilitate the functioning of emergency departments and provide effective and rapid service. Materials and Methods Our study is a prospective study and was conducted by recording 200 patients with COPD who applied to the Adult Emergency Service of Manisa Celal Bayar University Faculty of Medicine Hospital between 01 May 2022 and 01 May 2023. Patients who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study and their BAP-65, DECAF and DECAF-L scores were calculated. The outcome of the patients, their readmission within 1 month after the outcome, and their mortality were monitored and recorded. Results 200 patients were included in the study. Significant differences were detected between the outcome type of the patients (discharge, ward or intensive care admission) and BAP-65, DECAF and DECAF-L scores (p<0.001 for each). In our study, a significant difference was found between lactate value and patients who died in the last month (p = 0.004). It was determined that when the lactate value increased by 1 unit, the risk of exitus increased by 35.8% in the last month (OR = 1.358). However, in our study, a significant difference was detected between the DECAF-L score, which was obtained by adding the lactate value to the DECAF score, and exitus within 1 month after the emergency department (AUC = 0.653; p = 0.039). It was determined that when the DECAF-L value increased by 1 unit, this risk increased by 29.6% (OR = 1.296). Conclusion Increasing the use of BAP-65, DECAF and DECAF-L scores will greatly facilitate the discharge and hospitalization planning of COPD patients applying to emergency departments. We also believe that it would be beneficial to increase the use of the DECAF-L score, which has been found to be effective in predicting mortality, in emergency departments. Keywords: BAP-65, DECAF, DECAF-L, COPD, Morbidity, Mortality