The prevalence of clinically-relevant comorbid conditions in patients with physician-diagnosed COPD: a cross-sectional study using data from NHANES 1999–2008

Our study indicates that COPD management may need to take into account a complex spectrum of comorbidities. This work identifies which conditions are most common in a nationally-representative set of COPD patients (physician-diagnosed), a necessary step for setting research priorities and developing clinical practice guidelines that address COPD within the context of comorbidity.