Hospital at Home for COPD Patients - an Integrated Care Program at Akershus University Hospital, 2013.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a frequently appearing disease. Serious exacerbations of COPD require hospitalisation, which have significant negative consequences for patients as well as the society. The length of stay in hospital when experiencing COPD exacerbation is usually long, and it often also comes with a danger of being rehospitalised. This dataset consists of a COPD study concerning: 1) potensial predisposing factors for a prolonged time of hospitalisation (>11 days) when experiencing acute exacerbation of COPD and 2) comparing rates of rehospitalisation between patients treated for COPD exacerbation in a divison of lung disease to other divisions of internal medicine. The results indicates that contemporary incidences of other kind of diseases, serious exacerbations with disturbances in gas exchange, general status of nutrition, and the weekday of hospitalisation (thursday-saturday) is linked with an increased risk of a prolonged length of stay in hospital. The study shows that patients treated in a division of lung diseases do not have fewer rehospitalisations per year after being discharged than patients treated in other divisions of internal medicine.