Evaluating the disease and treatment information provided to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the time of discharge according to GOLD discharge guidelines.

Hospitalized patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease received little to no information about the seven items addressed by GOLD discharge guidelines. This finding suggests that these guidelines should be used more often by clinicians in hospital with or without medical residency in pulmonology. The lack of specialized care resulted in insufficient amount of information for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at discharge.