COPD prevalence and the differences between newly and previously diagnosed COPD patients in a spirometry program

To evaluate the prevalence and severity of COPD in a primary care population participating in a spirometry program. Differences between newly and previously diagnosed COPD patients were identified. A spirometry program was conducted in 15 primary care centres. Visitors aged over 30 years who were wi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Primary care respiratory journal 2010-12, Vol.19 (4), p.363-370
Main Authors: Minas, Markos, Hatzoglou, Chrisi, Karetsi, Eleni, Papaioannou, Andriana I, Tanou, Kalliopi, Tsaroucha, Rita, Gogou, Eudoxia, Gourgoulianis, Konstantinos I, Kostikas, Konstantinos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Aged
Female
Greece - epidemiology
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Original Research
Prevalence
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - diagnosis
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - epidemiology
Severity of Illness Index
Sex Factors
Spirometry
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:To evaluate the prevalence and severity of COPD in a primary care population participating in a spirometry program. Differences between newly and previously diagnosed COPD patients were identified. A spirometry program was conducted in 15 primary care centres. Visitors aged over 30 years who were willing to perform spirometry were included in this program. A total of 1,526 subjects provided acceptable spirometries. COPD prevalence in our population was 18.4%, of whom 69.0% were newly diagnosed. Most patients were classified as GOLD stages I and II (26.0% and 54.0%, respectively). COPD diagnosis was related to gender (men), age (older subjects), history of repeated respiratory infection in childhood, smoking (>10 pack-years) and presence of symptoms (cough, dyspnoea, wheezing). Variables related to newly diagnosed COPD were younger age and absence of chronic cough. A primary care spirometry program may identify a large proportion of undiagnosed COPD patients especially in the early stages of the disease. Newly diagnosed COPD patients were of younger age and presented with less symptoms. These results support the need for spirometry programs in primary care for early COPD detection.
ISSN:1471-4418
1475-1534
DOI:10.4104/pcrj.2010.00034