Chest
Volume 131, Issue 1, January 2007, Pages 29-36
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Original Research: Copd
COPD Prevalence in Salzburg, Austria: Results From the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) Study

https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.06-0365Get rights and content

Abstract

Background:COPD is projected to be the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020. The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease initiative was started to measure the prevalence of COPD in a standardized way and to provide estimates of the social and economic burden of disease.

Methods:We surveyed a gender-stratified, population-based sample of 2,200 adults ≥ 40 years of age. The findings of prebronchodilator and postbronchodilator spirometry, as well as information on smoking and reported respiratory disease was recorded. Irreversible airflow obstruction was defined as a postbronchodilator FEV1/FVC ratio of < 0.70.

Results:For 1,258 participants with good-quality postbronchodilator spirometry findings, the overall prevalence of COPD at stage I or higher was 26.1%, and was equal in men and women. The prevalence of COPD stage II or higher (FEV1/FVC ratio, < 0.7; FEV1, < 80% predicted) was 10.7%. The prevalence of COPD stage I+, and COPD stage II+, increased with age and cigarette smoking. A doctor diagnosis of COPD was reported by only 5.6% of participants.

Conclusion:One quarter of residents of Salzburg County (Austria) who were ≥ 40 years of age had at least mild irreversible airflow obstruction. The high prevalence of COPD highlights the impending health-care crisis that will affect many countries as a result of this greatly underappreciated condition.

Section snippets

Materials and Methods

We followed the BOLD protocol as has been reported elsewhere.14All staff participated in training, supervised by the BOLD operations center.

Results

Table 1summarizes the main characteristics of the 1,258 individuals included in this analysis. Former smoking was more prevalent in men (p < 0.001), while current smoking was slightly higher in women (p < 0.067). Not surprisingly, workplace dust exposure was reported by 35.3% of men, but by only 18.2% of women (p < 0.001).

Compared with these participants, the 824 eligible individuals who were excluded from the analysis (nonrespondents and those with poor quality spirometry results) were more

Discussion

The key findings of this population-based prevalence survey are that one quarter of residents of Salzburg County, Austria, ≥ 40 years of age had at least mild airflow obstruction, and that this was as common in women as in men. This finding illustrates the magnitude of the burden that COPD will pose in the near future, as the proportion of the population living into the chronic disease age range continues to increase.1

To set this study in perspective, the sparse literature on COPD prevalence

Acknowledgments

We thank Terry Kimes for her assistance with analyzing the data. We also thank the whole Austrian BOLD team involved with the study.

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    The BOLD project in Salzburg, Austria, was funded by unrestricted grants from Altana; Astra-Zeneca; Boehringer-Ingelheim; GlaxoSmithKline; Merck, Sharpe & Dohme; Pfizer; and Novartis. GlaxoSmithKline also provided in-kind contributions. The study was supported by the “Salzburger Gebietskrankenkasse” (local public health insurance) and the local government of Salzburg. The BOLD Initiative is funded by unrestricted educational grants from ALTANA, AstraZeneca, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, and Pfizer to the Operations Center located at the Center for Health Research in Portland, OR (www.boldcopd.org).

    The authors have reported to the ACCP that no significant conflicts of interest exist with any companies/organizations whose products or services may be discussed in this article.

    Reproduction of this article is prohibited without written permission from the American College of Chest Physicians (http://www.chestjournal.org/misc/reprints.shtml).

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