To investigate the risk factors for elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) complicated with bronchiectasis.

Retrospective analysis was performed on the data of 153 patients with COPD who were admitted to our hospital from June 2015 to June 2018. The patients were divided into a COPD group (n=96) and a combined bronchiectasis group (n=57) according to the presence or absence of bronchiectasis. The general data, clinical symptoms, blood routine indicators and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), as well as the blood gas analysis indicators of the patients were compared between the two groups. The bacterial composition in the sputum specimens and the influencing factors of bronchiectasis were analyzed.

The gender, age, smoking history, tuberculosis history and hospital stay had statistical differences between the COPD group and the combined bronchiectasis group (P<0.05). The duration of symptoms and the number of patients with purulent symptoms in the combined bronchiectasis group were significantly higher than those of the COPD group (P<0.05). The patients in the COPD group had higher serum levels of hemoglobin (Hb) as well as lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), ESR and the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO₂) than those of the combined bronchiectasis group (P<0.05). The incidence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in the sputum smears of the combined bronchiectasis group was higher than that of the COPD group (P<0.05). Therefore, among the elderly patients with COPD, females or the patients who had a tuberculosis history, Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, purulent sputum symptoms, long duration of symptoms or long hospitalization were easy to suffer from bronchiectasis (P<0.05).

Female, long hospitalization time, history of tuberculosis, pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, purulent sputum symptoms, long duration of symptoms and long hospitalization time are risk factors for bronchiectasis in the elderly patients with COPD.