Objective: To determine (1) the clinical characteristics of patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and (2) the association between the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) with disease severity.
Subjects and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study included 100 patients with stable COPD managed at the Respiratory Outpatient Clinic, Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital, from March 2024 to August 2024. Characteristics were compared separately across NLR and LMR groups, and Pearson correlation was used to explore the association between NLR and FEV₁. Association analyses were exploratory and were not adjusted for multiple comparisons.
Results: Most patients had mMRC ≥ 2 (81%), GOLD grade 2 airflow limitation (53%), and GOLD group B classification (61%). Median NLR and LMR were 2.30 and 2.83, respectively. In an unadjusted exploratory analysis, NLR ≥ 2.30 was associated with the high exacerbation-risk category (76% vs 48%; OR = 3.43; 95% CI: 1.46–8.06; p = 0.007). For LMR < 2.83, the corresponding difference was not statistically significant (71.43% vs 52.94%; OR = 2.22; 95% CI: 0.97–5.09; p = 0.066). There was no evidence of an association between NLR and FEV₁ (r = 0.14; p = 0.149).
Conclusion: NLR ≥ 2.30 was associated with the high exacerbation-risk category in an unadjusted exploratory analysis, whereas the corresponding association for LMR was not statistically significant. This study does not establish prognostic value or utility for monitoring treatment response.