International Journal of COPD (Nov 2023)

Factors Associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Hospital-Based Case–Control Study

  • Twinamasiko B,
  • Mutekanga A,
  • Ogueri O,
  • Kisakye NI,
  • North CM,
  • Muzoora C,
  • Muyanja D

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 18
pp. 2521 – 2529

Abstract

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Bruce Twinamasiko,1 Andrew Mutekanga,1 Olilanya Ogueri,2 Nakitto Irene Kisakye,3 Crystal M North,4,5 Conrad Muzoora,1 Daniel Muyanja1 1Department of Internal Medicine, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda; 2Science Department, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA, USA; 3Department of Public Health, Kabale University, Kabale, Uganda; 4Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; 5Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USACorrespondence: Bruce Twinamasiko, Tel +256772382195, Email [email protected]: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In this paper, we determined risk factors for COPD among patients presenting to pulmonology and medical outpatients’ clinics of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH).Methods: In this case–control study, cases were patients with COPD confirmed by spirometry and controls were those with normal spirometry. The two groups were matched by age and gender.Results: We enrolled 123 participants, of whom 41 were cases and 82 controls. A total of 51 women (41.5%) and 72 men (58.5%), of whom 25 were male cases (61%) and 47 were male controls (57%), were included. The results of our study suggest that the variables associated with the presence of COPD among participants attending MRRH were a history of having ever smoked and a prior history of atopy. This brings to our attention the fact that smoking remains a major risk factor for COPD in this setting, just as it is in developed countries.Conclusion: Our study has shown that the factors associated with COPD are smoking and a history of atopy. Patients with a history of asthma and tuberculosis are also probably more likely to develop COPD than those without similar disease conditions.Keywords: chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, smoking

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