COPD rates, higher than expected in China, will contin...(in China and then selected an urban and ...),Health

Date:10/12/2007

in China, and then selected an urban and a rural area within each province/city. They then used randomized cluster sampling from a randomly selected street or township, and attempted to recruit all individuals older than 40. About 79% of attempted were successfully contacted. They completed questionnaires and underwent spirometric testing for obstructive and restrictive lung disease.

While the overall rate of COPD, as defined by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) was higher than expected, there were some notable differences among the population.

Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that smoking, pulmonary problems in childhood, family history of respiratory diseases, male sex, low education level, aging, lower body mass index, poor ventilation in the kitchen, and exposure to biomass and occupational dust/gases/fumes are associated with COPD, wrote Dr. Zhong.

Importantly, more than a third of the subjects who had COPD were asymptomatic, and nearly two-thirds had never been diagnosed, suggesting that diagnosis of COPD on symptoms alone is not sufficient.

Even among subjects with GOLD stages 3 and 4 of the disease, fewer than 10% have ever received spirometry, noted Drs. Sin and Tan. The gross underutilization of spirometry represents a Great Wall, a huge barrier to good care for patients with COPD in China.

Dr. Zhong and colleagues findings present a dark picture of COPD in China, which is expected to grow worse before it gets better due to an aging population and rising smoking rates, especially in women.

Our results highlight COPD as a major public health problem in China and call for more research to be directed toward preventative measures and efforts, wrote Dr. Zhong.

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Contact: Keely Savoie ksavoie@thoracic.org 212-315-8620 American Thoracic Society Source:Eurekalert

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