THE IMPORTANCE OF EARLY DETECTION OF COPD

Abstract

BACKGROUND The prevalence of COPD in the Slovenian population is unknown. The aim of this investigationwas to determine the usefulness of spirometric screening for early detection of COPD. METHODS Our study was performed from 1st January 2004 to 30th June 2006 on 476 randomlyselected individuals from the population of 12,002 inhabitants of Sežana, which is a semiurbanregion of Slovenia. The selected subjects were above 40 years of age (252 femalesand 224 males). The diagnosis of COPD was made using clinical and spirometric data.The participants completed a questionnaire and a spirometry was performed pre- andpostbronchodilation. Subjects with FEV1/FVC < 0.70 were defined as having COPD (GOLDguidelines). RESULTS The prevalence of COPD in the group investigated was 9.8 % (4 % among females and 16.5% among males). Among smokers the prevalence was 18.8 % as compared to non-smokers with 2.9 %. Smoking intensity and higher age were related to a higher prevalence amongfemales as well as males. A high proportion of those diagnosed with mild COPD (82 %)were unaware of having the disease. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that spirometry screening is useful to detect early forms of COPD andthat COPD is still poorly recognised in Slovenia. In our opinion, spirometry should be usedroutinely in primary care in individuals at risk for COPD