Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Apr;67(2):165-171.
doi: 10.1016/j.alit.2018.02.002. Epub 2018 Mar 15.

Epidemiology of asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap (ACO)

Akifumi Uchida  1 , Kohta Sakaue  1 , Hiromasa Inoue  2
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Epidemiology of asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap (ACO)

Akifumi Uchida et al. Allergol Int. 2018 Apr.
Free article

Abstract

The term "asthma-COPD overlap" (ACO) has been applied to the condition in which a person has persistent airflow limitation with clinical features of both asthma and COPD. The certain definition and diagnostic criteria for ACO have not yet been established, and ACO prevalence has varied widely in studies: from 0.9% to 11.1% in the general population, from 11.1% to 61.0% in asthma patients, and from 4.2% to 66.0% in COPD patients. Furthermore, the frequency of exacerbations and prognosis in ACO patients have not been clearly demonstrated. Although ACO consists with several subgroups of patients with distinct clinical and pathophysiological features, it would be important to propose a standardized definition of and/or diagnostic criteria for ACO based on biomarkers and objective measures, even if it is tentative. It may lead cohort studies with large population or clinical trials around the world.

Keywords: Asthma; Asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ACO); COPD; Exacerbations; Prevalence of ACO.

PubMed Disclaimer

MeSH terms