Abstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects as many as 16 million Americans and is expected to be the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020. To increase awareness of COPD, encourage related research, and improve care of patients with this chronic disease, the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) was launched in 1998 and published an evidence-based report on COPD prevention and management strategies in 2001 that has been revised regularly. The fourth major revision, which was published in 2017 and revised in 2018, includes significant changes related to COPD classification, as well as to pharmacologic, nonpharmacologic, and comorbidity management. The authors discuss the changes to the GOLD recommendations and, using a patient scenario, explain their application to clinical practice.