von Siemens SM, Alter P, Lutter JI, et al. - Researchers determined if the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) items provide additional information beyond the sum score about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) features including emphysema. From the COPD cohort COSYCONET (German COPD and Systemic Consequences - Comorbidities Network), they selected 2,270 patients of GOLD grades 1 to 4 who had available complete CAT data, and chest CT assessment for the presence of emphysema was done on 493 of these patients. They found marked variations between CAT items, especially items 1 and 2 vs 3 to 8, concerning the link to comorbidities and emphysema. With regard to the presence of emphysema, information seemed to be provided by items 4 and 5, and to a lower degree 1, 2 and 6, whereas the total score was not or less informative. According to the findings, the assessment of the CAT on the basis of single items, which may be suggesting the presence of comorbidities and emphysema, can afford an effective strategy to increase the usefulness of the CAT.