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Male sex was associated with 45% greater risk of death

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is expected to be the third leading cause of death worldwide in 2020. COPD is primarily caused by smoking and hence is a predominantly a male disease. But increasingly females are also diagnosed with COPD. Traditionally there is a tendency among physicians to label female COPD patients as asthma. Though the symptoms of COPD are similar to that of asthma but the bronchoconstriction is irreversible in COPD. Pulmonary function test can be used to differentiate COPD from Asthma.

Previous studies have documented several gender differences in COPD.  Women with COPD tend to complain more symptoms compared to males with similar lung function. But objective evaluation  by CT and histopathology show men have more COPD related changes in the lung. While the disease is confined to the airways in the females, it is present in the peripheral airways in males.

In an analysis of a large database in canada, it was found that males with COPD had reduced survival when compared to female COPD patients. In addition the time to rehospitalization following the initial hospitalization was less in males.These findings suggest some gender specific factors that play a role in the natural history of COPD.

Reference
http://thorax.bmj.com/content/66/1/38.short?rss=1
Thorax 2011;66:38-42 doi:10.1136/thx.2010.141978