American-Indian (AI) patients are potentially more likely to be severely affected by COPD than non-hispanic white (NHW) patients, reveals a US study. A research conducted by a team of scientists from the College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Centre, Oklahoma City, United States, found that AI patients were more likely than NHW patients to need ICU care and ventilator support, have longer ICU stays, and days on mechanical ventilator support. The findings of the study, published in PubMed, said that it analysed 76 AI patients and 304 NHW patients to find that the average number of days on mechanical ventilator support would increase by 137.3 percent for an AI patient compared to a NHW patient (p<0.001).