What is it about?
Respiratory symptoms are a key component of the natural history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but they have been less well studied than other disease dimensions. We documented wide variation in the presence of symptoms between individuals that was not well explained by other markers of the disease.
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Why is it important?
Precision medicine requires a full accounting of the variation in disease between individuals. Our results suggests that symptoms represent a separate dimension of the disease, and should be accounted for individually when assessing disease severity and predicting outcomes.
Perspectives
Expressing the abstract concepts of 'heterogeneity' and 'variation between patients' in a clear and succinct way was challenging. I hope people will find it readable, and also appreciate the importance of using 'individualized' statistical models to answer questions related to precision medicine.
Kate Johnson
University of British Columbia
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Heterogeneity in the respiratory symptoms of patients with mild-to-moderate COPD, International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, December 2018, Dove Medical Press,
DOI: 10.2147/copd.s184424.
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