C-reactive Protein as a Predictor of Severity in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: An Experience From a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background In this study, we aimed to determine the frequency of raised C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and their association with the severity of the disease. Methodology This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, from June 2018 to December 2018 in the Department of Medicine. Patients attending the respiratory outpatient clinic in the Department of Medicine, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, meeting the sample selection criteria, were included in our study. A total of 104 patients were enrolled. All patients had plasma CRP levels measured, and forced expiratory volume in one second to forced vital capacity ratio was calculated to quantify the severity of the disease. We used SPSS version 26.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) for data analysis. Results All patients with levels of hs-CRP greater than 3 mg/L had stage 3 or 4 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) according to Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria, which accounted for 16.4% of the sample, while 81.7% of all patients suffering from COPD had levels greater than 1 mg/L. Only a small minority of patients, 1.9%, had normal high-sensitivity (hs)-CRP levels. The relationship between high levels of hs-CRP levels and advanced stages of COPD was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Conclusions The severity of COPD is directly related to the raised CRP levels, which can help in identifying these patients and managing them subsequently. It can be a useful indicator and a basis for high suspicion index and close follow-up for patients with high levels.