January 20, 2014
Publications
>
Article
No

Monitoring breathing rate at home allows early identification of COPD exacerbations

Publicated to:CHEST. 142 (6): 1524-1529 - 2012-01-01 142(6), DOI: 10.1378/chest.11-2728

Authors: Garcia Rio, Francisco; Yanez, Aina; Yanez, Aina M; Guerrero, Dolores; Perez de Alejo, Rigoberto; Alvarez-Sala, Jose Luis; Calle Rubio, Miriam; Calle-Rubio, Miriam; Malo de Molina Ruiz, Rosa; Malo de Molina, Rosa; Valle Falcones, Manuel; Ussetti, Piedad; Sauleda, Jaume; Zamora Garcia, Enrique; Rodriguez, JM; Rodriguez-Gonzalez-Moro, Jose Miguel; Franco Gay, Mercedes; Torrent, Maties; Agusti, Alvar

Affiliations

Airprod S Europa, Madrid, Spain - Author
Area Salut Menorca, Ib Salut, Menorca, Spain - Author
Edificio S Hosp Univ Son Espases, Carretera Valldemossa, Fdn Invest Sanitaria Illes Balears, Palma De Mallorca 7907010, Spain - Author
Fdn Invest Sanitaria Illes Balears FISIB, Mallorca, Spain - Author
Hosp Gen Gregorio Maranon, Serv Neumol, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp La Princesa, Serv Neumol, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ La Paz, Inst Invest La Paz IdiPAZ, Serv Neumol, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Puerta Hierro, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Son Espases, Serv Pneumol, Palma De Mallorca, Spain - Author
Hospital Universitario Son Espases - Author
Univ Barcelona, GIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias CIBERES, Hosp Clin,Thorax Inst, Inst Invest Biomed Agusti Pi & Sunyer IDIBAPS, Mallorca, Spain - Author
Univ Complutense, Hosp Clin San Carlos, Fac Med, Serv Neumol, E-28040 Madrid, Spain - Author
See more

Abstract

Respiratory frequency increases during exacerbations of COPD (ECOPD). We hypothesized that this increase can be detected at home before ECOPD hospitalization.To test this hypothesis, respiratory frequency was monitored at home daily for 3 months in 89 patients with COPD (FEV?, 42.3% ± 14.0%; reference) who were receiving domiciliary oxygen therapy (9.6 ± 4.0 h/d).During follow-up, 30 patients (33.7%) required hospitalization because of ECOPD. In 21 of them (70%), mean respiratory frequency increased (vs baseline) during the 5 days that preceded it (from 15.2 ± 4.3/min to 19.1 ± 5.9/min, P < .05). This was not the case in patients without ECOPD (16.1 ± 4.8/min vs 15.9 ± 4.9/min). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that 24 h before hospitalization, a mean increase of 4.4/min (30% from baseline) provided the best combination of sensitivity (66%) and specificity (93%) (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.79, P < .05). Two days before hospitalization, a mean increase of 2.3/min (15% change from baseline) was associated with a sensitivity of 72% and a specificity of 77% (AUC = 0.76, P < .05).Respiratory frequency can be monitored daily at home in patients with COPD receiving domiciliary oxygen therapy. In these patients, breathing rate increases significantly days before they require hospitalization because of ECOPD. This may offer a window of opportunity for early intervention.

Keywords

AgedAged, 80 and overCohort studiesDiagnosisFemaleFollow-up studiesHospitalizationHumansMaleProspective studiesPulmonary disease, chronic obstructiveRisk factorsSensitivity and specificityTherapyTime factors

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal CHEST due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2012, it was in position 4/50, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Respiratory System.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 2.14. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 3.2 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 21.03 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-18, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 76
  • Scopus: 88
  • Europe PMC: 42
  • Google Scholar: 63

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-18:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 120.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 124 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 17.6.
  • The number of mentions on the social network Facebook: 1 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 10 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: United States.