COPD patients are at a higher risk for all three subtypes of gastrointestinal disorders, including gastroesophageal reflux disease, irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia, according to a recent population-based study conducted by Dr Tzuo-Yun Lan and colleagues at the National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. The researchers wrote d that they analysed 4107 COPD patients for 5 years between 2000 and 2005, and the results were reportedly validated using the operations definition of COPD in the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database. The team added that the validation study confirmed the accuracy of definitions of COPD, with 83.5% sensitivity.