COPD as a multicomponent disease: Inventory of dyspnoea, underweight, obesity and fat free mass depletion in primary care

The use of a multidimensional grading system, taking into account dyspnoea as well as the nutritional status of COPD patients, is likely to influence the distribution of disease severity in a primary care population. This might have implications for prevention, non-medical treatment, and estimates of health care utilisation in primary care.